Harnessing the gig economy: a practical guide for SMEs to leverage freelance talent

FIVE years on from the beginning of lockdown and the world of work is not what it used to be. Apart from the rise of remote working, the pandemic years brought about a rate of technological advancement a few decades that is equivalent to the previous 50. While many in-house roles remain, the global gig economy exploded with 1.25 billion workers going into freelancing in 2020 alone.

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In South Africa, while this migration was motivated by unavoidable retrenchments and widespread economic instability across the world, another impetus builds from traditional work occurred in 2021 when workers voluntarily left their jobs driven by a desire for better opportunities and improved work-life balance in what is now referred to as the Great Resignation.

The hiring of freelancers for SMEs (the hybrid) should become the go-to strategy when lockdown was lifted but recently there's been an increase in Return-to-Office (RTO) mandates from companies of all sizes. Those who have experienced a taste of remote work, however, are creating their own hybrid models completely independent of permanent employment working out of local co-working spaces with other like-minded people.

For small to medium enterprises (SMEs), this shift to contract work, as opposed to permanent employment, holds numerous benefits. I have highlighted three of these benefits that I have witnessed as significant:

Cost savings:

Businesses can reduce overhead costs such as salaries, office benefits and office space by hiring freelancers only when needed.

Access to skills: