Gone are days when “freelancing” was considered an unreliable career choice. Many freelancing jobs have gained popularity in recent times, with companies embracing flexible working environment. The rising demand for outsourcing work to freelancers has led to more and more people opting for freelance rather than taking any full-time job. The main reason is the challenges the individuals are facing in the full time job market. According to a recent Paypal report, Web & mobile development, web designing, internet research and data entry are the key focus areas for Indian freelancers while some of them are also engaged in accounting, graphic design and consultancy.
The report highlighted that many individuals took to freelancing after having heard about it from friends, family, social media and freelancing platforms. Of the reasons that drove them to adopt freelancing, earning more income, flexibility in schedules and ability to choose who to work for, topped the list. The freelancers feel that they need external support in aspects such as setting up their own website, finding and retaining clients, fee, and negotiation advice, protection and insurance.
Entrepreneur India lists few reasons why should startups hire freelancers.
To Cut Down on Rising Costs:
One of the important aspects of any startup is the financial stability and sustainability.The Start-up ecosystem is predominantly fast paced and dynamic. Most often, start-ups run on tight budgets and strict deadlines. According to Geetha Prabhu Founder and COO, Workflexi.in, one of the perks of outsourcing jobs to freelancers, contractors or consultants is to cut cost and simultaneously get the job done as soon as possible.
Get High-quality Work On Time:
Prabhu further emphasized that hiring a full time employee is a gamble, at least for start-ups as the founders are not sure if the resource is competent enough to add value to the vision and mission of any start-up.
"Practically, one interview is just not enough time to assess anyone's capability. Contractors or freelancers become a good bet in terms of work & quality assessment as the duration is always less," she said.
Accommodating a Short-term Project:
Mostly, startups and smaller businesses hire freelancers for short-term projects that their full-time members can't do.
Riya Padhye, Heads the HR Department at HappynessFactory.in, feels if the kind of work is short-term and the company doesn't want to commit to a fix cost and at the same time try out people specially in fields like graphic designing, then freelancing option may make sense for startups.