Technically speaking, I am unemployed.

For the large majority who fall under the same category as myself, the immediate option is to look for a job.  These days though, the entire concept of "having a job" takes on a whole new meaning.  Herein lies the paradox.  Can one be actually unemployed and yet have a job?  Answer :  Yes.

This year has been an exciting year so far.  I am back to my "old job" within a new environment and with a new set-up.  I "work" for two agencies under one parent/holding company.  Between the two, neither one employs me.  Which means that I can move about freely dictating my own time.  And in this day and age, the real currency is not measured in pesos or dollars but with time and mobility.  Within this paradigm, I work for free.  I lend expertise to the companies without charging a single peso for manhours invested.  Nevertheless, in the fullness of time, what is invested as "free service" will bear fruit way beyond what could be delivered if the compan(ies) tied me down with the usual employment set-up.  The best thing of all is that when that "fullness of time" comes, the remuneration is not even extracted from the companies I've lent the expertise to.  Someone else pays for it.  And for the companies I've lent myself to, it's a no-brainer.  Win-win-win all the way.

An ex-colleague from another agency asked me point blank to confirm what she heard through the grapevine.  I said yes that is true.  But I added that it should not be perceived as a threat to her because I could also lend the same mental effort if she allowed me to.  And even with that, I would still technically be unemployed...but with a job.

The wonders of changing the game.