RedBalloon CEO Andrew Crapuchettes shares insights from the new report, “2024: The Toughest Job Market Ever,” exclusively on Fox News Digital.
Large companies are turning more to freelancers than ever before to keep fixed costs down and avoid mass layoffs.
That’s according to Shannon Denton, co-founder of Wripple, a platform that matches companies with vetted freelancers in real time.
Denton dubbed this period the “freelancer economy,” which means American businesses are increasingly hiring more independent workers to help with a variety of tasks, like designing websites or planning events.
Wripple partnered with independent research firm MDRG to conduct two studies. In total, we collected 200 surveys from freelancers and 214 surveys from marketing and HR leaders at large and mid-market companies that employ freelancers.
Percentage of gig workers hit record high in March
More than 90% of businesses surveyed said they expect to work more with freelancers this year, up from 42% in 2023. Some 82% of freelancers plan to be open to more opportunities throughout 2024, up from 51% in 2023.
Let’s take a look inside a journalist’s study. (Markus Scholz/picture alliance via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Denton has noticed a trend of workers being more willing to freelance for personal projects and “not wanting to work for a boss.”
“They just think differently now,” he noted. “They [Gen zs] Compared to older generations, younger generations tend to “not understand the value of working in a company.”
In fact, a 2022 study by consulting firm McKinsey & Company highlighted the growing number of Americans who have become independent workers.
The surge in U.S. small businesses that started as side hustles
In Americas Opportunity Survey (AOS)Thirty-six percent of respondents were employed, representing an estimated 58 million Americans from the representative sample who self-identified as independent workers — a notable increase from 2016, when 27% of the employed population reported being independent.
People work from home in Duermen, Germany, on May 31, 2021. (Ute Grabowski/Getty Images/Getty Images)
In a survey of 25,062 Americans, McKinsey found that about 5,280 respondents who identified as self-employed were “significantly more optimistic than the average American worker about both their future and the economic outlook.”
The consulting firm said the statistic was noteworthy given the challenges they face, including lack of affordable health care and stability.
“Businesses are looking for more freelancers today, especially after the economic ups and downs and multiple layoffs,” Denton argued.
Click here to get FOX Business on the go
Denton said companies now realise the value of only hiring when necessary.
A photo of a telecommuting arrangement taken in Tisquilwa, Illinois, USA. (Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“They have a lot more flexibility. They don’t have to ramp up production and cut staff or incur fixed costs,” he added.
Plus, it’s quicker than hiring an employee who would take days or weeks of onboarding and training.
“With a freelancer, you expect them to know exactly what work needs to be done and you’ll probably hire them for a few weeks to do it,” Denton says.
