The Freelance Revolution In 2024? 23 Big Trends To Consider

What a year for freelancers and their clients. Economic uncertainly powered down freelance optimism as many companies reduced their spend. Then, ChatGPT and a late fall buoyant stock and crypto market. Goldman Sachs wrote “the global economy (will) outperform expectations in 2024 — just as it did in 2023.” Many economists expect strong growth, a robust job market, and rate cuts rather than hikes, though recession fears continue.

So, what’s up for freelancing in 2024?

2024 is tough to predict. Goldman Sachs forecasts GDP growing by 2.6% in 2024 and inflation reaching Fed’s 2% target by H2 2024. The Wall Street Journal reports inflation could fall to 1.8%. This looks good for growth, and growth is good for freelancers. But don’t pop the cork yet. Deutsche Bank and others worry about a hard landing and 2024 recession.

More freelancers than ever. According to Emergent Research and MBO Partners, Covid’s impact on US freelancing is best described this way: more! Pre-Covid there were too few full-time freelancers. Covid closed the gap: 90% more full-time freelancers, and a 130% increase in side-giggers. The freelance revolution now boasts 72.1 million Americans.

Freelance platform CEOs are largely optimistic about 2024. According to the HumanCloud trend tracker and our regional surveys freelance leaders are optimistic about 2024. The Economist suggests growth will benefit freelancing’s core verticals: tech, marketing services, and management consulting. Among country surveys, the UK is most concerned, though worries are policy, not demand, based (IR35). Vision 2030 is driving Middle East enthusiasm.

Expert networks continue to expand. Expert networks is a win-win. Employers appreciate the access to difficult to find expertise, and professionals like the opportunity for additional income at attractive rates from very short-term engagements. Companies like Inex.one have helped expert networks become a multi-billion dollar industry.

Platforms find alternative funding as VCs lay low. It’s been a frustrating time for startups raising growth capital (down by 35% in 2022 v 2021, and flat in 2023). But, one door closes, another opens and debt financing is on an upward trajectory. Embedded debt capital provided by innovative fintechs like CrediLinq brings AI solutions to platform-based small businesses like freelancers. Barclay’s Bank and McKinsey also see embedded credit continuing to grow.

Consulting 2.0 is growing. EY recently announced a layoff including consulting partners. McKinsey, Bain, and BCG (the MBBs) have delayed hires, are moving downstream of their strategy roots, growing their tech chops, and expanding marketing budgets. All the while Catalant and similar marketplaces – Weem in France, Klaiton in Austria, Talmix in London, Malt in Berlin, and Redegate in Poland, offer global access to experienced experts, at lower cost, and available for shorter assignments.

Freelance lite is taking hold. Over 80% of employees want location flexibility, according to a Future Forum study, and 93% want schedule flexibility. As more employees take on side-gigs, they see themselves as solopreneurs renting their time to their employer client. Performance, not loyalty, is at the heart of a new employment contract. This is leading to big changes.

New centers of freelance innovation are maturing. Big Sky Capital’s success in Kazakhstan is a case in point. Great startup and early-stage founder communities are forming and growing nicely in cities like Helsinki, Capetown, Berlin, Singapore, Lisbon, and Melbourne. Fewer founders than ever have left their heart in San Francisco.

Early and late age founders. That’s right: early age, not early-stage. Harvard profs found that a typical founder of a high growth startups was 45 years old when they started the new company, and most were 30-49. But 10% were under 30, and 5% were over 60.

Project management as a service. More platforms have begun offering full freelance teams to enterprise and SMB clients, followed closely by offering project management services. Marketplaces like CodeMonk and Proteams in tech, Mash Brands in marketing services, and Catalant in management consulting are excellent examples of this new service trend.

Freelancers, are you positioned for the M&A boom? Did you notice a recent flurry of deal-making? Expect more in 2024 as companies join forces to expand into new markets, products, and technologies. The opportunities for freelancers in tech, marketing services, and consulting are obvious and significant if you are prepared.

Just beginning to see the potential of AI. AI is revolutionizing freelancing in many ways: as a client service, of course, but Maari Casey of Uncompany also points out the value of improving the marketplace experience. Pat Petitti, CEO of Catalant notes the benefit to consulting freelancers in a recent Forbes article: “When consultants leave large firms to go independent, they lose access to the support that helped them operate efficiently. AI will replace much of that support – market research data, presentation and delivery tools and templates, analytic help – effectively offering independent consultants the tools that enable them to deliver at the level, and with the power, of a larger firm.”

Global, glocal, or local? What’s the best business model for an ambitious freelance marketplace? Should new marketplaces be thinking local like Growth Collective’s emphasis on the US? Or glocal like Malt building freelance business and client relationship hubs in the UK, Spain, Benelux, and France, Outsized in Asia and Africa, or Flexing It in India and Singapore? Or truly global as Upwork, Fiverr, and Contra? The coming consolidation will create more opportunities for acquisition, sale, and JV.

Can freelance and traditional recruiting live together in harmony? It’s hard to find good examples of talent platforms successfully combining traditional staffing and freelance. Many have tried with limited success. Platforms like G2i have offered a full-time option, but usually as a sideline. Denmark’s Marcher Markholt may be closest to figuring out how to bridge the gap, but it’s not easy.

Putting the growth mindset to work. Hyper-growth startups depend on two drivers top-of- funnel drivers: events (hosting and participating in virtual or physical events) and creating effective partnerships. Expect greater application this year as more marketplaces seek growth.

More variations on freelancing. There’s a widening array of ways that people freelance, and interest has grown in interim or fractional roles. Interim-based (length) and fractional (percentage) careers have always been more attractive in Europe, where termination can be quite costly vs. the “at will” arrangements typical in the US. But, talent shortages and funding challenges in the US will certainly increase interest.

With direct sourcing, HR is starting to join the freelance revolution. At Unilever, HR and Procurement collaborate in creating the future workforce, and their plan includes direct sourcing of freelancers through corporate talent clouds. Platforms like Torc offer access to key talent and Bubty, Talent Pools, and Gigged.ai provide the tech. Emergent research expects direct sourcing growth to continue.

How much is your startup really, really, worth? According to Crunchbase even good exits are well below peak. Loom sold for $975 million in October, discounted from $1.5 billion peak valuation in 2021. Instacart’s peak valuation was $39 billion but it’s IPO went public at $8.3 billion and now trades at $6.6 billion.

The importance of professionalism in freelancing. As freelancing grows, objective standards of excellence are required. The Trusted Talent Partner award was a good start – trustworthy client feedback is crucial to enterprise approval – but seems to have stalled. Other areas where greater freelance professionalism is needed: common language, more support for first-time or early freelancers, and agreed standards of expertise beyond years of experience or “cool” employers.

Remote freelance work is increasingly accepted. Some regions are more traditional than others, e.g. the Middle East and even the UK prefer freelancers and employees to be present in the “office”. But the trend to unplug work from location continues and, with it, an increased need to think holistically and strategically about total workforce design.

Learning to make money as well as spend it. Flush times before the pandemic had an odd impact on startups: many learned how to spend money, but not make it. Recent years have changed that: the best startups found their inner scrappiness and bootstrapping made them stronger and more valuable. As venture funding begins to trickle back in 2024, expect VCs to be most interested in the marketplaces that don’t need them.

Is bigger better? What’s the point of a million or more talented freelancers on your platform if they don’t generate revenue, aren’t engaged, and just entries in a frequently incomplete digital talent warehouse? More and more marketplaces are rethinking their platform size, focus, and membership to better align with strategy.

Freelancing helps solve big global problems. The WEF cites immigration, climate change, cybersecurity, food and water security, unemployment, and regional conflicts as top global challenges. Freelancing platforms like Omdena show how the freelancing revolution contributes critical expertise to solving these existential threats. It takes vision, focus, and determination.

There it is, a summary of trends and observations about the freelance economy in 2024. Taken together, it looks like growth for the freelance revolution. Happy Holidays!

Viva la revolution!