Freelance work can be a win-win situation for both freelancers and companies.
Freelancers claim they have more control over their jobs, schedules, and workload than employees. Companies, on the other hand, benefit from freelancing by connecting with the highly-skilled professionals for a given project while also managing their staff commitments better and faster.
A recent survey of over 800 freelancers found that most important reason people freelance is Work-life balance (81%), followed by family (44%), commute stress (42%), and time-saving (40%).
Freelance job openings are growing in popularity
Freelancing isn’t going away anytime soon. It’s estimated that by 2027, nearly half of the total U.S. workforce could be freelancers. That’s a total of 86.5 million people on the job!
The top 30 companies and industries with the largest number of freelance job listings between January 2021, and September 2021.
30 companies that offer remote freelance jobs
Many of the businesses on this list are staffing and recruitment agencies, illustrating their close ties to hiring for freelance, contract, and temporary positions. Some companies are full-service, hiring for a wide range of job career fields and industries, while others are more specialized, focusing on a specific field or industry.
The companies listed below are listed in order of the number of remote job postings they have.
- Robert Half International
- Kforce
- Kelly
- Accounting Principals
- Ajilon
- Randstad
- CyraCom
- Collabera
- Bilingual Therapies
- Planet Group
- Profit Factory
- Motion Recruitment Partners
- Welocalize
- BELAY
- Solomon Page
- Beacon Hill Staffing Group
- CSI Companies
- Stride, Inc.
- ModSquad
- Expert Business Development
- Stage 4 Solutions
- VIQ Solutions
- Aquent
- FlexProfessionals
- Tava Health
- Russell Tobin
- Avispa Technology
- Study.com
- 24 Seven
- Varsity Tutors
The top ten career fields hiring for remote freelance jobs.
- Accounting & Finance
- Administrative
- Computer & IT
- Customer Service
- Writing
- HR & Recruiting
- Medical & Health
- Project Management
- Bilingual
- Education & Training
Where can I look for freelance jobs?
When looking for freelance jobs, it’s a good idea to start with the freelancing category or use the term as a keyword. However, “freelance” has a lot of different names!
- Freelance Job is one in which a person works for themselves rather than for a business (meaning they are self-employed)
- Work for Hire works a contract worker rather than being a permanent employee
- Independent Contractor has A contract with another company or individual and determine the work terms, which is how the IRS identifies this form of work.
- 1099 is used to describe the employment and to refer to the IRS form that an independent contractor must complete: Form 1099-MISC (Income Tax Return)
- Contract Consultant is someone who is employed by a company for short-term consultations on certain matters.
- Contract-To-Hire is a job that starts out as a freelance or independent contractor role but has the potential to grow into a full-time position.
How do I get started a freelancer?
If freelancing sounds like the ideal fit for you, check out these pointers to help you get started.
#1 Understand the Market
Do some market research first to ensure there is a demand for the industry you’re in, the service you’re delivering, and that you understand your competition before quitting your day job, buying a website, and going “all in” on freelancing.
#2 Create a Personal Brand
Create a strong personal brand to help potential clients understand why you’re an expert at what you do once you’ve determined there’s a need for your services. What are your one-of-a-kind skills, qualities, and abilities that others lack or can’t do as well as you?
#3 Increase the size of your nest egg
The feast-or-famine cycle is one of the freelancing realities. Sometimes, there’s so much work, and other times there isn’t enough. To avoid these dire circumstances, make sure to build a financial cushion.
#4 Manage administrative responsibilities
It’s critical to strike a balance between your love for the actual work and the more mundane operations of a freelance business. You’ll have to look for health insurance, make retirement plans, pay self-employment taxes, and deal with the more basic responsibilities of obtaining office supplies and keeping track of your time.
#5 Hire a mentor
A freelance mentor can help you navigate your freelance career just like traditional employment. You can find a path to success by learning from someone who knows the ins and outs of freelancing.