Dr. Gleb Tsipursky – The Office Whisperer
Nirit Cohen – WorkFutures
Angela Howard – Culture Expert
Drew Jones – Design & Innovation
Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
- Augmenting your staff with freelance talent can help your company to scale quickly while reducing labor and operations costs.
- Freelancers can offer expertise that might not be available in house, helping to meet tight deadlines and providing fresh insight based on their experience with multiple companies.
- Employee turnover rates are soaring, and freelance platforms provide an affordable way to access talent and fill the gap on demand.
Does this situation sound familiar? You’re looking at budgets for 2024 and your company needs to meet stringent deadlines to deliver products or services faster and more effectively than ever before.
To complicate matters in this competitive environment, funding is extremely tight, and there’s a rapid turnover in workers. This is a common problem throughout many industries. In fact, Forbes reports that turnover rates are hiking up to 60%. Research from Business Insider says that in 2023 it takes an average of about 44 days to fill an open position after posting a job.
To succeed, it’s time to consider bringing in skilled freelance talent who are available at affordable rates and ready when you need them — like yesterday. This approach provides flexibility throughout the duration of your project and for future opportunities. It can help your company reduce labor and operations costs, while also meeting your business objectives. So, where can you find the best people to fill this void easily and most affordably? The Harvard Business Review recommends pursuing innovative strategies to tackle talent challenges, including the need to “embrace on-demand and gig platforms to increase labor-force flexibility (even for higher-wage workers), accelerate time-to-market, and enable innovation.”
Here are some ways a high-quality freelance platform can help reduce costs, expedite hiring, and enhance productivity while attracting and retaining quality freelancers in 2024.
1.Maximize flexibility with a remote global remote workforce
There are times when you may need to scale up or down quickly. By hiring online freelancers, especially during peak periods, you can cut overhead dramatically. This applies to project-based or even long-term contracts.
You can also save by hiring global workers, such as software developers, data analysts, customer service reps, sales and marketing specialists, virtual assistants, and other professionals. That’s because labor rates can be significantly lower in various regions, while still ensuring that you pay a fair and attractive wage to attract top talent.
Freelancers can offer expertise that might not be available in house, helping to meet tight deadlines and providing fresh insight based on their vast experience with multiple companies. In addition, adding global talent gives you the option to offer 24-hour coverage to meet customers’ needs.
In an interview with Allwork.Space, Miro Miroslavov, founder of OfficeRnD, highlighted how “embracing remote work culture and flexible arrangements will position businesses to navigate emerging trends with agility and resilience, bolstering their capacity to thrive amidst market uncertainties.”
2.Make virtual recruiting and transparency a priority
If the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words,” holds true, then a short video is worth considerably more. A freelance platform that includes a video on the freelancer’s public profile page provides the opportunity to know how well they communicate before deciding if you want to interview them. The profile should ideally also include samples of their work, and a high-level overview of their experience.
Some platforms also offer more customized recruiting services. This allows you to meet with a recruiter who will personally conduct video interviews of candidates virtually before matching them to the position you need. This enhanced service can help you find the right person faster, especially with positions that are highly specialized.
Tools such as Calendy make it convenient for clients to set up video calls to discuss their requirements and conduct initial meetings with freelancers.
3.Provide innovative benefits, incentives, and support a high-performance culture
Savvy freelance recruitment platforms can help attract workers by offering them access to providers of group global health insurance, disability coverage, pet insurance, accounting services, virtual credit cards, and other perks. These benefits can be purchased at a discounted rate available to the freelance community from their platform providers.
Your corporate culture might encourage exceptional performance by offering contracts that provide performance-based incentives that reward people for doing quality work. The hiring platform you use should have technology that makes it easy to track, support, and manage these types of contracts.
4.Maximize enhanced automation and AI
Recruiters will automate more tasks in 2024, such as screening candidates and initial interviews. Growth is also expected in asynchronous video technology, where applicants can video themselves answering questions based on your specific requirements.
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Look for a freelance platform that integrates AI to enhance the overall freelancing experience by offering intelligent matching, skills verification, predictive analytics, automated sourcing, and personalized recommendations. This technology-driven approach ensures that clients can efficiently find and collaborate with the best candidate for their projects.
5.Offer flexible and fast payment options and competitive rates
Freelancers appreciate having multiple options for getting paid and choosing their preferred currency. Fast, predictable payments are also a priority. The value of global currency can fluctuate day-to-day. That’s why some freelancers also prefer to receive a portion of their payments in various stablecoins, which are as stable as the U.S. dollar, as well as other crypto assets.
Offering numerous options for payments and ensuring a fast, transparent, secure delivery helps businesses attract and retain high-quality global workers. Plus, it can eliminate the need for businesses to have multiple bank accounts in multiple countries to pay their freelancers.
Freelancers traditionally pay fees to the marketplace that hires them. Look for a platform that offers a broad range of opportunities — with low fees for freelancers and no fees or low fees to the clients who hire them.
Established companies and startups can thrive by turning to freelance talent to augment staffing, control costs, and deliver exceptional products and services faster and more cost effectively. Hiring managers can save considerable time and effort by seeking out a freelance platform that can provide the services, people, and technology needed to meet their existing and future demands.
