As recession fears loom, businesses are starting to tighten their belts and are weighing hiring freezes or layoffs. Despite this, a recent study from online freelance marketplace Fiverr found that 43 percent of business owners anticipate filling their workforce gap with freelancers. Abby Forman, the director of public relations at Fiverr joined Cheddar News to discuss the study results and what it means for the workplace. Forman also provided an outlook on the job market and the future of freelancing as the alleged demand for contract workers grows. 

Opening Bell

Fiverr Says Companies Are Turning to Freelancers as Recession Fears Grow

data also reveals that 43% of business owners surveyed plan to hire freelancers to fill the gaps. So what does this mean for the future of hiring in the workplace here to discuss? As Abby foreman, Director of Public relations at Fiverr. Abby, what were the major takeaways from this survey? In your, in your thoughts? Thank you so much for having me this morning. So unfortunately based on the data that we collected from over 1000 us-based companies of all different sizes, we found that 85% plan to implement hiring freezes given the current Situation and another 78% actually said they'll have to lay off staff in the event of further economic downturn. So it's a grim outlook, but one that we feel both businesses and workers should absolutely be aware of. I'm curious that what factors are shielding remote only companies from the same inflationary pressures as hybrid or fully in person companies. Yeah. So our survey did actually find that remote companies are less likely to freeze hiring or let staff go as compared to those that are operating fully in person. And it's likely because these remote companies have lower overhead costs than companies that operate fully in person. They don't have leases, they don't have office supplies to pay for utilities. So they're saving money there. We also know that remote first companies are more likely to be agile and flexible with their workforces and they're likely flexing full time talent with independent freelance talent. We've seen that a lot of companies are resorting to freelancers on fiber to fill skills gaps in their workforces during this time. And it's really been a helpful resource to them to save money while enhancing productivity. To that end. You know, this report does come after the U. S. Reported strong job growth for the month of july stronger than expected. So I also then I'm curious how will these layoffs and hiring freeze by hybrid and in person companies in particular affect how and if these companies can attract top talent in the near future. Yeah. So the data does make it clear that remote only companies are more likely to retain their talent. So therefore companies that are operating fully in person should think about their remote strategies. Uh Companies that are operating remote may also have an easier time recruiting. Uh We also know that freedom and flexibility are top priorities for workers right now. So even more so than things like compensation and promotions. So companies definitely need to be thinking about the flexible benefits that they're giving staff in order to attract them in the future. How is fiber providing companies with freelance hiring solutions as they look to kind of fill these gaps in their workforce as it seems to be a trend. So fiber over the last several years has been focusing a lot on building products and services that allow companies to easily integrate freelancers into their workforce. A couple of years ago in 2020 we introduced fiber business which is a full marketplace vetted and curated talent that focuses specifically on business oriented services. And we're seeing consistent growth here as companies, you know, post pandemic are increasingly seeing the value that working with freelance talent can have on their business, but also their bottom line pulling into that a little bit more. What's your broader outlook on the future of freelancing amid this tighter labor market? We're definitely optimistic. I mean look this this market, this workforce has continued to grow year over year for the past decade and the pandemic definitely catapulted it to new heights that we could have never imagined. Actually, another report that we put out earlier earlier this year found that uh freelancers contributed over 247 bill dollars to the U. S. Economy, That's the highest number on record. And we expect that number to continue to grow up next year. And in the next couple of years the pandemic, the great resignation and all of these work trends even now, quiet quitting, all these, all these trends are showing that work life balance is increasingly important and freelancing is something that provides that Abby really appreciate your time and inside interesting stuff here. Abby Forman, director of Public relations at fiber