“The future is freelance, with new insights from Totaljobs revealing a 132% surge in people looking for freelance roles between 2017 and 2019. The data shows that more than ever before, UK workers are looking to break away from the traditional 9-5, often favouring the added flexibility and lucrative pay that can come with contracted work.
“This growing appetite for going freelance presents a number of opportunities for employers looking to expand their teams. Freelancers often bring experience from multiple industries, adding value to a business and bringing different perspectives and fresh ideas.
“Freelancers can prove to be a saving grace for employers in a resourcing muddle, plugging gaps as and when needed. However, with more and more people on the hunt for freelance roles, employers must look at how to attract the best freelance talent. Offering incentives often reserved for permanent members of staff such as sick pay or holiday can prove fruitful when trying to attract and retain strong freelance workers. Although, employers and employees of course need to remember to be mindful of IR35.
“Such strong demand also begs the question of what employers can do to reinvent more traditional job roles to improve retention of an increasingly mobile and flexible workforce. Introducing initiatives such as flexible hours or remote working can mean employers benefit from incorporating the best bits of freelance work into the more traditional four walls of the office.”
Totaljobs analysed searches on its platform between January 2017 and May 2019 to identify the increase in the number of people searching for freelance roles.
