Something has to happen until what happens. With the outbreak of the Corona virus with us, more and more companies-forced-home office and remote work. It would be desirable if companies learn to appreciate the added value and the advantages of location -independent work. Especially in times of "War for Talents", the right employee is no longer located on the doorstep or is ready to move from Hamburg to Offenburg for a job. Even Twitter no longer finds enough talents in San Francisco and the surrounding area and increasingly relies on remote work. Due to the spreading Coronavirus risk, Twitter has called on his employees to work from home worldwide. Thanks to technical tools, work structures can be relocated to home immediately and employees are connected to the company at any time.
Talent pool independent of the location
Companies that have location disadvantages or feel a specialist in their area are also dependent on the expansion of their talent pool and no longer do without the use of freelancers and remote work. In addition to the advantages for freelancers (no commuting, better work-life balance) and companies (lower costs, environmental friendliness, healthier employees), the search for talents can lead to success faster.
Freelancers to record stand
The number of freelancers in Germany rose to 1.43 million in 2019 and thus increased to a new record. Over 300,000 of them work in free cultural professions - and the trend is rising. The reasons for the growing "on Demand-Economy" are diverse. On the one hand, generation X and Y gives the compatibility of family and work a high priority and that makes it easier for a freelancer than an employee. On the other hand, the project work is increasing massively due to digitization. And with it the structure of the work (New Work). In the past, it was a matter of course that everyone had to be in the company, companies today get the expertise from all over the world (IT know-how from India, AI competence from Israel)-and it often sits thousands of kilometers away in the home office or in coworking space. Digitization, specialization, international division of labor and new forms of work make the demand for highly specialized specialists rise. If you then use freelancers, use an extensive and worthwhile talent pool. Why?
Diversity promotes creativity and accelerates transformation
People who work together need a clear vision, a commitment for what they do. However, many creative minds are often free spirits who cannot be put in a corset. But this should also know and promote companies to use a good balance of employees and freelancers. Diversity promotes creativity, innovation and brings a lot of movement to the team.
Fast availability of know-how providers
Free copywriters, for example, are not only hardworking "writing bees". If you employ a freelancer, you also get conceptual and creative input, especially when it comes to good content marketing, storytelling or ghostwriting. Companies buy special knowledge with external “think tanks”. A clever head from the outside is also a valuable innovation catalyst.
Strengthens motivation and internal corporate culture
With quick growth and change processes, the flood of work in companies often increases. This increases the pressure on the employees, creates stress and demotivation. On the one hand, the use of freelancers creates the performance of performance and on the other hand to keep motivation high.
Flexible use at personnel bottlenecks
Missing capacities and the increasing number of project work are the most common reasons to use freelancers. Freelancers are flexibly and temporarily available for order tips, pitches or fast customer requirements. You should not only see freelancers as a temporary “fire brigade”, but also see the increased benefit. Fresh wind from the outside simply lets the wind of change blow faster.
Sabine Fäth, Managing Director of the Freelancer Education SCRIBERS[HUB] Photo credit: Bruno Cevera by Unsplash
