Upwork Report Finds U.S Businesses Increasingly Turn to Independent Talent as a Key Workforce Strategy
August 25 2022 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Companies facing a protracted labor shortage
use skilled independent professionals to win the war for talent,
innovate their businesses and weather disruption
Upwork (NASDAQ: UPWK), the world’s work marketplace, today
released its seventh annual “Future Workforce Report.” Reflecting
survey data from over 1,000 U.S. hiring managers, the 2022 report
finds that businesses are reevaluating longstanding notions around
how to access talent as well as resource, construct and scale
teams. In particular, businesses are using independent talent to
build agility and adapt to economic uncertainty, solve critical
talent and skills challenges, innovate, and move quickly to gain a
competitive advantage.
Despite the robust labor market, businesses continue to face an
historically difficult hiring landscape. As the number of available
job seekers continues to decline, while the number of Americans who
quit their jobs remains at a 20-year high, 60% of hiring managers
cite difficulties finding quality talent to fill open positions.1
However, businesses that leverage independent talent as a core part
of their workforce strategy feel better equipped to fill key roles,
find the right talent and skill sets, and withstand disruptions
when compared to businesses that do not.
“Businesses that engage independent talent are already seeing
the benefits of embracing a more adaptable strategy,” said Tony
Buffum, VP of HR client strategy, Upwork. “Our research shows that
not only are they more optimistic about the difficult hiring
landscape, but they also feel more confident in their company’s
ability to respond to disruption, be it economic, geopolitical, or
other global market forces. That’s why we are seeing companies
increasingly rely on more modern, flexible pools of talent.”
Key findings from the Upwork Future Workforce Report 2022
reveal:
- Use of skilled independent professionals poised to
accelerate: Nearly 60% of hiring managers who engage
independent talent say they plan to increasingly rely on
freelancers over the next six months (58%) as well as over the next
two years (66%).
- A majority of businesses are hiring, but struggling to
source talent: Nearly 70% of hiring managers (69%) say they
anticipate staffing up over the next six months. At the same time,
60% cite difficulties finding quality talent to fill open
positions.
- Freelancers help businesses solve the talent shortage:
Nearly 80% of hiring managers who engage skilled freelancers say
they are confident in their ability to find the talent they need,
compared to just 63% of those who don’t engage freelancers.
- Independent talent provides access to specialized
skills: Of those who hire freelancers, 85% say that working
with independent professionals allows them to access talent with
specialized skills or expertise.
- Independent talent unlocks innovation: 79% of businesses
agree that working with independent talent enables their business
to be more innovative.
- Organizations that work with independent talent are more
confident about withstanding turmoil: Among those hiring
managers who use freelancers, 84% say they are confident in their
company’s ability to respond to disruption, compared to 69% of
those who do not use freelancers.
- Most in-demand roles: The top job categories hiring
managers need to fill most urgently are Accounting (33%), IT &
Networking (30%), and Operations (29%). Over the next six months,
52% say Customer Support will be a top position they seek to
fill.
- Toughest roles to hire: Respondents report the roles
that will be hardest to hire for are in Data Science and Analytics
(60%), followed by Architecture and Engineering (58%), and IT &
Networking (58%).
To read the full report, please visit
www.upwork.com/research/future-workforce-report-2022.
About Upwork’s Future Workforce Report
The report was conducted by independent research firm
ClearlyRated. This is the seventh year the survey has been
conducted. This report uses survey data to understand hiring trends
and sentiments among hiring managers. More than 1,000 U.S. hiring
managers were surveyed through a third-party, independent online
sample between April 25, 2022 through May 10, 2022.
About Upwork
Upwork is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from
one-person startups to over 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful,
trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work
together in new ways that unlock their potential. Our talent
community earned over $3.3 billion on Upwork in 2021 across more
than 10,000 skills in categories including website & app
development, creative & design, customer support, finance &
accounting, consulting, and operations. Learn more at upwork.com
and join us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
TikTok.
About ClearlyRated
ClearlyRated is a global leader in human capital management
research. The firm powers satisfaction and thought leadership
studies for hundreds of top firms within the space and leverages
more than 300,000 survey responses annually to provide insight into
the millions who work in the gig economy and the companies who hire
them. For more information, visit
https://www.clearlyrated.com/.
1 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/JTSQUR
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Katie Gallagher press@upwork.com
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