Freelancing can benefit workers and companies alike, according to Upwork. Freelancers can be incorporated into hybrid working teams easily.
New data from freelancer jobs site Upwork sheds light on the role that freelance workers play in enterprises.
Last month, Upwork revealed its top most in-demand tech skills for freelancers in 2023. According to data taken from its own website, Upwork posits that full stack development, followed by front-end and back-end development are the most in-demand skills for this year.
Today’s (22 February) report by Upwork is focused on how freelancers and their skills impact upon the enterprises that they work for.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, as Upwork is a platform dedicated to freelancing, the data found that not only are enterprises boosted by freelancers, the practice makes workers happy and fulfilled.
The report pointed out that freelancing is a conscious career choice for a lot of workers. Unfortunately, freelancing is still somewhat underestimated, according to the report.
It said that a “common misconception” about freelancers is that they have difficulty finding a permanent or real job and are only doing freelancing as a ‘side hustle’.
“While that may be the case for some, freelancing has evolved as a full-time business for many, and enterprise companies can join them on that journey,” said the report’s authors. It cited big companies like Airbnb, Microsoft, Nestle and Nasdaq as employers that are choosing to actively recognise freelancers as part of their hybrid teams.
Freelancers can slot into the hybrid working model quite easily nowadays. The report points out that taking on freelancers can be a low-cost way of ensuring teams are staffed with talented people.
“Diversification in talent strategies such as leveraging freelancers – a fixed-cost option that can be much lower than traditional hiring – gives enterprise companies the ability to respond quickly and effectively to shifts in business priorities while doubling down on the most promising investments.”
Focusing on freelancers for hiring plans gives companies an opportunity to hire for skills rather than hiring for the sake of hiring. So, as well as empowering workers and giving them greater flexibility to move between companies, freelancing could benefit business’s skills profiles.
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