The Perks of A ‘Job’

When I made the decision of going solo and leaving my day-to-day job

The number one two 3 4 concern everyone seemed to have for me was:

“But what about job security?”
“What about perks?”
“How will you work without an office?”
“How will you manage without a monthly income?”

Did these questions affect my decision?

Noupe

But I have seen them plague so many who get stuck in the constant cycle of doubt as a result

The reality is, it depends on your situation

Are you Single? Married? Have Kids? Have Responsibilities?

The answer differs on the scale laid out by these pre-existing systems.

Companies that offer good perks, have a place and deserve your loyalty.

But the average Pakistani corporation is not giving you perks — they are cheap deals passed on to your paycheck.

The thing is, if you break the facts down, the choices become much clearer:

– Job Security?
If the hundreds of layoffs earlier this year are anything to go by, it is quite clear no one has job security these days.

Think of it this way, in most cases, if you go solo and are good at it. You will be making 3–5X your current income, your job security is now your savings, that’s how simple as it gets.

The best security is your bank account, as cliche as that sounds.

– Perks?
This one frustrated me the most, unlike our US counterparts, what are the perks in a typical Pakistani corporate job?

Free cheap coffee? A bonus that makes no difference? Medical Insurance that doesn’t work in most hospitals? What else?

Realistically speaking, how our economy functions, you can afford any perk a company is offering, by yourself. Often on better terms as well.

If you disagree, go ahead and mention a corporate perk that money can’t buy.

– Office?
As someone who goes out daily, this was the one that got to me the most.

I love working remotely, but getting to sit with people and working among teams is a different experience.

This is the sole reason I still tell folks to put in their time, serve their sentence, then worry about going solo. Freelancers without any corporate experience suffer from bad soft skills as a result.

As with all things though, there are options now — there is a coworking space open in every neighborhood, I am writing this post sitting at one.

Our options are no longer limited to where we work, they are only limited by if we network or not.

– Stable Income?
The big one — the one that every bank needs you to have to get any damn thing done.

Not having a ‘stable’ income on a monthly basis is looked down upon by every institute in Pakistan. To this day I struggle to wrap my head around why does it even matter?

Although problematic, I always knew I was gonna make it work, one way or another. If you struggle to look behind a number on a piece of paper — then perhaps this life is not for you.

Going solo is the first step towards true entrepreneurship, you can’t be tied to a paycheck, a company, or a place. Once you unlock the path — you have limitless options.

So if perks don’t matter and benefits are a hoax –

Does this mean everyone should get up and quit?

Not at all

I still believe in perks and benefits — not everyone has the same goals with their profession. What matters is your state of satisfaction.

Everything has tradeoffs, but that doesn’t mean you should not pursue different directions in life.

My goal here is to set misconceptions straight, not to argue which approach is better.

I have seen people work 20+ years at the same company happily
I have seen people work 1-month of freelancing and constantly complain

There’s no right way, but there is a better way, for you.