A study on the quality of work life of freelance developers in the software industry

As a result of the widespread use of information technologies in all sectors in the world, the need for workforce working in the information sector increases day by day. The widespread use of the Internet and the greater acceptance of the remote working method by employers, especially after the Covid 19 pandemic, are increasingly developing atypical working styles. Especially those working in the software industry can easily do their work remotely without being physically present at the workplace. Software industry employees are able to provide services outside the borders of their country thanks to remote working and tend to serve countries with high income. As a result of this situation, the number of software developers who set up their own business (freelance) rather than working in a salaried and fixed job increases. In this study, it is aimed to measure the quality of working life of freelancers in the software industry in Turkey. Although the total number of software developers in Turkey is not known exactly, the data showing that this number is around 140,000 in 2019 and the target for 2023 is 500,000 is included in the 2019-2023 Strategic Plan document of the Ministry of Industry and Technology. The number of freelance software developers in this population is unknown. In the first part of the study, the information sector and its sub-components were examined in terms of the software sector with its historical development. In the second part of the study, the relationship between work, quality and quality of work life is explained and international indicators used in measuring the quality of working life are included. In the last part of the study, a questionnaire applied to 400 people working as a freelancer in the software sector in Turkey and an interview prepared according to the results of this questionnaire were applied and the results of the research were included in the mixed method. While all the data within the scope of the quantitative research of this thesis were recorded and analyzed in the "SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) for Windows 22" program on the computer, the text data within the scope of the qualitative research were processed by the MAXQDA qualitative data analysis program and visualized and analyzed. Keywords: Information and Communication Industry, Freelance Developer, Quality of Work Life.