The number of local home-based professionals, known as "SOHO" workers, tripled in the last year, a Web site dedicated to the group said yesterday.
"The number of SOHO workers on our Web site has tripled within one year from 21,000 last January to 65,000," said Nica Chou (
SOHO is an acronym that stands for "small office/home office." The term has been in use for about 25 years and is believed to have originated in the information-technology sector.
SOHO encompasses a range of entrepreneurial activities and business structures, from individuals working solo to work groups with a small number of employees. This includes a myriad of worker categories and terms: home-based businesses, free agents, independent contractors, telecommuters, e-lancers, and other independent professionals.
SOHO professionals in Taiwan work primarily in information technology, as freelance writers and graphic designers, Chou said.
The online poll of some 2,742 people found that SOHO workers are in desperate need of government assistance because their rights are not safeguarded by the Labor Standards Law (勞基法). They are not entitled to the nation's health and labor insurance and other work-related benefits.
Over 50 percent of the survey's respondents said the economic downturn has made getting fully paid for some jobs difficult.
After being laid off, Kia Chen (
He claims he has lost up to NT$60,000 in deals gone sour.
"I couldn't do anything about it except taking it as bad luck since all work agreements were verbal," Chen said.
He urged the government to come to help SOHO workers.
But an official from the Council of Labor Affairs offered scant encouragement to the niche laborers.
"Such disputes must be handled in the courts," said Chuang Mei-chuan (
The survey cited five major reasons behind the rise in SOHO workers -- freedom to do what one likes to do; love of challenges; dislike of being controlled; to make extra money; and inability to find full-time work.
Sixty-one percent of the respondents said the biggest problem stems from the lack of a stable income, while 48.19 percent cited absence of labor law protection.
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