A new survey has revealed that increasing the use of freelancers and consultants is one of the main ways that businesses in the professional services sector are responding to an array of issues, including rising costs, tax and regulation.
The survey, from software, payments and hardware solutions provider Square, revealed that 61 per cent of businesses in professional services said that they had increased their use of freelancers and consultants over the past year. 300 decision-makers from across the professional services industry were polled for the survey.
The report found that professional services firms now no longer consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to be their primary concern, with factors such as rising costs, supply chain disruption, resourcing issues, tax, regulatory changes and complex budgets now viewed as more pressing challenges within the industry.
Square’s Senior Manager, International Finance and Strategy, Niamh Cunningham, said that the pandemic had helped businesses “shift to digital ways of working,” enabling firms to become more agile.
The outside expertise offered by freelancers appears to be a key factor in this. Cunningham said: “Our sellers are continuously finding new and more efficient ways of working that prioritise expertise, implementing technology, and setting their business apart in an increasingly competitive landscape.”
As well as increased engagement with freelancers, 43 per cent of businesses said they had expanded into a new vertical during the past year, while a further 43 per cent said they intended to move into a new vertical over the coming 12 months.
75 per cent of businesses have adopted an omnichannel sales approach and 67 per cent have adopted new ways of working, such as remote or cloud-based working, which they said had improved their business practices. 61 per cent of decision-makers, meanwhile, said their firms were planning to increasingly use automated tools in the next year, while 42 per cent said they used them for some financial processes.
