A new survey has revealed that tech firms are increasingly turning to freelance talent as they lose full-time staff amid the ongoing “great resignation”. With many employees reconsidering their priorities in work and life, 44 per cent of the 580 tech founders and executives polled in the survey from A.Team and MassChallenge said that they had lost “a significant number” of their top staff in recent months.
As a result of this staff exodus, 73 per cent of executives have adopted “blended teams” comprising full-time employees and freelance workers. 71 per cent of respondents, meanwhile, said that integrating freelance workers into their teams had provided their businesses with greater agility amid a period of escalating economic uncertainty.
The “great resignation” has left many tech executives sceptical of current models of recruitment, with 67 per cent saying that recruitment was in need of an overhaul, while 62 per cent stated that the process of hiring talent took around four months.
Andy Chamberlain, Director of Policy at the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE), stated: “Traditionally, we’ve seen over the years that there will be an increase in the use of freelancers and the self-employed when firms are not sure about the economy. It makes them nervous about hiring permanent staff and having to let them go, so they’re making more use of freelancers.”
Chamberlain added: “You can sort of get a sense for when the economy is starting to pick up again because freelancers start getting lots of work, which means firms are looking to do projects. While they’re not looking to invest, they’re not exactly hanging on to their money – tech companies are still going out there and engaging freelancers to do some work for them.”
