A report last month from freelancing website, Upwork revealed that businesses are changing the way they hire. In an online survey of over 1,000 hiring managers it was revealed that many businesses are increasing the amount of freelancers they take on.
Upwork CEO, Stephanie Kasriel said: “Businesses are scrambling to adapt and keep up with the rapid pace of change in our world. In just a few years, a third of the skills needed in the workforce will be brand new.
“Traditional models of hiring no longer provide the agility businesses must have to access in-demand skills when and where they’re needed. With 55 million Americans freelancing, businesses are thinking beyond archaic Industrial Era-approaches and turning towards flexible hiring to get work done.”
The top reasons for the increase in freelance hires were to meet project demands (56%) and to find skills they didn’t currently have in the workforce (49%). One third of companies used freelancers last year. 55% of them plan to increase their usage in 2017.
The biggest concern when hiring freelancers is accountability, 38% said this. However, only one in 10 hiring managers said they were not satisfied with this with their latest hired freelancer.
Four in five hiring managers said that they had increased productivity as a result of hiring freelance talent. 77% said that freelancers helped them get more done. 84% said that if they weren’t able to hire a freelancer, they would have had to cancel or delay projects.
Benefits of hiring freelancers:
Flexibility
One of the reasons hiring managers might turn to freelancers is because their skills may not be needed full-time so it’s not worth hiring a full-time employee. If this is the case, you can take advantage of the flexibility of hiring freelancers as and when required.
So if you’re running into a short busy period and need a few extra pairs of hands, freelancers can be a great solution.
Cheaper
Hiring freelancers usually turns out to be cheaper than hiring a full-time employee. Their hourly rates may be more than an employee but you don’t have to cover things like holiday pay, meaning that they’re usually cheaper to hire overall. You might not even have to set up a workspace for them if they work from a home office.
Specialist
When looking for a freelancer you’ve got the opportunity to visit their website and look at their portfolio to make sure that they have done similar work that you require. The best freelancers tend to focus on a niche and end up as specialists in their line of work so you can be assured that your project will be in safe hands.
Are you planning to hire freelancers for your business? Or are you finding more companies are approaching you for your services? Let us know your thoughts.
