The unprecedented crisis of the pandemic has impacted our daily lives in immeasurable ways, and businesses must rethink the work environment altogether. COVID-19 has affirmed the importance of remote work and independent workers as more and more companies are moving towards a work-from-home structure. Traditionally organizations hire full-time workers however due to current circumstances, this has resulted in an increase in the demand for freelancers and the opportunities in the gig economy have risen. Yet, it is essential to understand that COVID-19 is not the only reason to embrace freelancers.

The gig economy comprises an ever-growing talent pool of highly specialized professionals who are self-motivated, disciplined, and well experienced, and there are numerous benefits of hiring freelancers. 

Access to Specialized Talent with a broader range of skills 

First and foremost, businesses have access to specialized talent. Freelancers provide specialized services to businesses that are meant to address specific needs. Think about a Web designer, your company may not need one on a full-time daily basis, but one might be required to design a new company logo or redesign the company’s website. You might even need a marketing or PR consultant to develop a new marketing or communication strategy. Freelancers can also be a resource for valuable and unique outside perspectives for the business. 

Freelancers often work and interact with multiple businesses; hence they bring a wealth of knowledge and unique insight. The nature of the gig economy itself teaches its participants how to manage their time and learn a broader range of skills. 

Introduce your business to diverse and cost-effective workers with a wide range of connections

Author Christian Lowery from Medium states that freelancers can provide the same amount of work as full-time employees for less money. She further cites an example for it, according to Glassdoor, the average salary for a social media manager is just under $60,000 per year. That salary equates to about $28.85/hour for a freelancer working 40 hours a week. Chances are, a freelancer can do an equal amount of work in less than 40 hours per week as you won’t be paying them downtime. 

For instance, activities of full-time employees within their 40 work hours per week. They check social media, take lunch breaks, bathroom breaks, read news websites, send personal emails, search online, take paid vacations, and do many other miscellaneous tasks. When you hire a freelancer, you are only paying them for hours they spend working. Moreover, freelancers would never jeopardize their quality of work as their careers depend on success stories, client reviews, and word of mouth referrals.

Experienced remote workers also bring countless connections along with them. The nature of freelance work helps them connect with numerous professionals from multiple fields and professions. Diversity is another excellent benefit of the gig economy. Your business can outsource work to professionals all over the globe with diverse backgrounds and distinctive skill sets. Even for the most obscure technologies or niches, there is probably a freelancer out there with a particular set of skills ideal for your business needs. 

Now the fundamental question is, how does your business reach these highly skilled professionals?

There are several platforms out there promising to give you access to an exceptional talent pool that can transform your business and help you achieve your goals. However, truth be told, most of these platforms process through algorithms that can easily overlook suitable and experienced workers. Delton Rhodes, a freelancer himself, wrote in an article on Medium that many talented and suitable candidates get overlooked and unappreciated due to platforms giving preferences to long term users and an overall lack of vetting procedures verifying freelancer skills with required projects. 

Freelancing platforms must prioritize screening processes to increase productivity and the quality of work for businesses, and they must also prioritize the need to connect ideal candidates with meaningful projects. 

ConsultXperts is a platform that has both of these qualities. It has a team of specialists that entirely focus on an extensive screening process to select the most proficient and experienced experts for projects posted by businesses. Furthermore, the platform is not dependent on an algorithm, so when you look for freelancers, we hand pick freelancers that are most suitable for the job.