I have been working with and regularly hiring a handful of videographers as independent contractors for 5+ years, working with the same people and building steady and awesome professional relationships over time and providing solid part-time income that these folks rely on. With the new bill I am required to hire these folks as employees.

What has been the immediate impact of AB5 on your ability to do work and/or make an income?

Though I am completely for uplifting the rights of workers and respecting and compensating labor well, this bill has done several detrimental things to our small business - adding about 30% additional cost to what I usually pay the videographers has led to:

1. Laying off our administrative assistant in order to compensate for the extra cost, then myself as the owner having to take that administrative load back on myself. So I have to work harder/more for same or less income. And another contractor completely lost this helpful part-time work.
2. Increasing our rates. Our clients are significantly working artists and arts non-profits, in an already deeply underfunded sector always in the struggle to survive financially (and the videos we produce for them are mainly in effort to help them keep afloat through grants and promotion). So these artists are also taking the hit.
3. Search for more work that isn't delegated. Because it is significantly more expensive to delegate work to employees, in order to see the sustainability of the business, I am personally looking for more work that I do not delegate. This means again that I am doing more work for the same income and also that I am investing less in securing jobs that would give my videographers income. So my videographers, who were once independent contractors, despite the benefit of my company paying more of their taxes under employee status, ultimately take a hit as well.