My studio is at a point where the majority of the work being done there is by freelance engineers. This is great, as I spent many years as the main engineer and built the studio's reputation by working my butt off. Now, with the help of my studio manager Kendra, I can pick and choose projects, tackle the bookkeeping, work on Tape Op Magazine, help plan TapeOpCon and become more of a studio owner than engineer (gasp, sigh).
Freelance engineers are assets to our studio, bringing in work we wouldn't otherwise see and taking on sessions for us. But in our situation, one of the problems I worry about is this: How will they ever learn about all the equipment in our studio and all the techniques we might have developed for using it? And since we don't offer a studio full of Neumann, Studer, Neve and other major brand names — what is this stuff?