The Facts About Freelancer Growth During This Epidemic

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Freelancers are people who are self-employed and who do not have a long term contract with a particular employer. The service providers of freelancers say outdoor companies are showing signs of a revival after the government eased the lockdown.

ATHUL C K, Nesar Dsouza

Jul 16, 2020 — 7 min read

Freelancers are people who are self-employed and who do not have a long term contract with a particular employer. They can work in any field virtually, while most people work in marketing, communications, creative arts, and information technology. Freelancers are sometimes represented by a company or provisional agency that sells services of the freelancers to clients.

They work in different types of industries and they will sell their services at a declared rate. Some freelancers work independently or use websites or associations to get the job done. Although the term independent contractor can be used to describe the tax and employment classes of such workers, the word “freelancing” is the most usual in the cultural and Innovative industries. And the term can refer to participation.

What are the changes in June?

The service providers of freelancers say outdoor companies are showing signs of a revival after the government eased the lockdown. A survey is conducted by a Bengaluru based organization. Around 14,000 freelancers responded to the survey. They said that the 64% of the 14000 freelancers now have more jobs than in the past two months.

63% of the total invoices, which collected in March before the starting of lockdown in the country, are fully closed. It was 16% in April and 27% in May. Now in June freelancers are getting back into work. The domestic payments were delayed by an average of 19 days to 24 days. The international payments are also delayed. It took twice time than usual time.

**A freelancer can work in any field virtually**

Some freelancers, which include designers and writers, have larger demand in June. 76% of designers and 80% of content writers say there are more jobs in June than in April or May. Because this system reduces costs, companies can work with selected freelancers at these critical times. Since April, Instamojo and RazorPay have increased payments by 20-25% through micro entrepreneurs, which includes free trade organizations and private companies.

Gig Platform Flexing announced a 75% increase in the number of freelance positions in February. PeopleStrong HR reports that 25-30% of employees in Internet, information technology, IT services, startups and hospitality companies, fast food restaurants, retail outlets and logistics have become independent over time.

Impacts of Covid-19

According to a new study by the freelance platform named "Upwork", 47% of managers would hire freelancers after the COVID-19 crisis. "Businesses find value in flexible options in different types of situations," said Adam Ozimek, chief economist at Upwork. "It was just our news back then. Companies need to move fast, adapt to remote jobs, and change businesses in many ways. Some of them try to have more flexible skills and find that they work, especially when they need to move fast, grow, and be dynamic in situations".

The data is part of a report by Upwork, examining the hiring habits of 1,500 US managers. This year's survey looked at two sets of data, one before the crisis in Covid-19, which is from October 2019 to November 2019 and the other in April 2020. An independent firm named "ClearlyRated", were conducted the online survey.

The study had 2 parts, which reflects changes in the labour market since the epidemic. One of the main challenges faced by managers who participated in the Upwork survey in November 2019 was the lack of skills and the acquisition of the necessary skills. In the second phase of data collection in 2020, 45% of organizations will freeze their employees and 39% will lay-off or do so in the future.

Previously, employers expected only 53% of laid-off workers to reenter. Only 10% said that they had added more personnel to respond to the epidemic. It still remains to be seen how employment trends will change, as most countries are now open to business at different stages. These declines is different from the Great Depression, as the global economy never recovered from the epidemic, and by 2020 changes in the US economy were rapid.

The act named "CARES" (Corona virus Aid, Relief and Economic Society) has reduced the impact of sudden delays on the traditional workers, businesses and the self-employed by giving financial support to them. That is why many government agencies are continuing fight. Along with demand, the technical infrastructure of some employment departments has increased.

What is the situation of employees?

Anyways, this great depression can be a guide to the future. As a result of the recent decline, many traditional workers lost their jobs. Many employers have made contact with freelancers and self-employed, to avoid continued spending on the balance sheet. They became safer through this. This situation would be ideal for developing a business, as there is a greater demand for freelance workers.

People are not happy with this trend. In the event of an economic downturn, there is often a "voluntary" increase in self-employment. Most of the peoples want to work for a fixed salary. But there is no any other option, so they forced to become a freelancer. At this time it is unknown for most of the peoples who lost their job, about what to do after leaving the job.

**There will be a huge demand for freelance workers in future**

Some low-wage workers actually earned more than they earned from their jobs because of "CARES" act. It is also unknown about that the employers will call back their workers to the job. All know that more than half of the workforce currently works in at least half of the workplace and are more likely to use remote and independent workers in the future.

The future of freelancing

People are turning to freelance, especially to keep up and grow faster. Osimek said, "They have to consider how to remotely change their company overnight. To do that, it is very difficult to find a full-time employee”. Most of the employers are not completely satisfied with their staffing in firms. They prefer to work with freelancers to complete the work more quickly.

The management found that working directly with freelancers reduces costs, provides more transparency in the process of hiring, and it also provides access to inappropriate skills. Most employers seem to have a close relationship with their extended group.The study found that the average age of independent talent participation was 4.1 months. They mostly hire freelancers for writing, creativity, web development, and software development. Marketing themselves is a better option than going to companies who gives employment for who looking jobs.