New Survey Shows Conde Nast Tops the List of Best Companies for Freelancers in NYC.

NEW YORK -- Conde Nast ranks as the top company for New York City's freelancers, according to a new survey released today by The Freelancers Union. The results of the second annual survey, "Ten Best Companies to Freelance for in NYC" were determined by over 1,000 of the City's independent workers who completed the online poll between October and December 2005.

Most important to independent workers in determining whether a company is "freelancer-friendly" are accurate and timely payment; easy access to staff, information and equipment; payment above market rate; and friendly professional work environment.

Freelancers make up an estimated one-third of the workforce nationally and account for nearly one million NYC workers. The Freelancers Union, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the needs of America independent workers, asked their members to name the one company that treated them the best of those they worked with in 2005.

Based on their votes and responses, the top ten companies to freelance for in NYC are:

1. Conde Nast                   6. MJM Creative
2. Time Warner                  7. The New York Times
3. BBC                          8. Curious Pictures
4. MTV Networks                 9. McGraw-Hill
5. HBO                         10. Viacom

"It is extremely important to assess all companies that hire or contract with independent workers," said Sara Horowitz, executive director of the Freelancers Union. "Because freelancers do not generally fall under the purview of human resource departments, nor do they have the same benefits or rights as traditional workers, companies are not held to written standards when employing freelancers."

"Using the information on what is most important to freelancers, we are able to create a core set of industry standards for firms that utilize and rely on independent workers. These 'best practices' will help those companies who want to do the 'right thing' by their independent workforce," continued Horowitz.

Of the survey respondents, 58% said that they were freelancing by choice, whereas 25% claimed independent working is the norm in their industry. Forty percent have been freelancing for more than five years.

For information, visit www.freelancersunion.org.