Comments on: Are freelancers putting a crimp in small biz hiring?

By: Knooq

Knooq — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:43:11 +0000

Freelancing is just outsourcing for small firms. If we were to take account of the wholesale outsourcing that has been happening in larger firms, from manufacturing of components to call centres in financial services and IT, and look at the transfer of employment to foreign markets (a natural effect of globalisation), the effect of small businesses using freelancers might seem negligible in comparison.

With new ways of working such as telecommuting, outsourcing is a flexible way to control costs and employ services on a needs be basis. This helps small business to offer the prices that enable them to compete with larger businesses.

For small firms there needs to be a jump in the ‘critical mass’ of sales revenue to cover the full cost of a new employee.

By: Nicole Miller

Nicole Miller — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:56:21 +0000

Great reply. I just tweeted it! :->

By: Crystal Stannard

Crystal Stannard — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:43:59 +0000

As a U.S. freelancer working with oDesk I can confirm that a VERY large portion of jobs and projects are shifting to offshore freelancers. This is due to companies wanting to spend the smallest amount possible. I am competing with those who are charging less than $5 an hour and it’s simply not plausible.

I think that freelancing is a great opportunity because it provides jobs to those who are unemployed, stay at home parents, and saves on the normal expenses (clothes, gas, etc.) that come with traditional work.

My opinion is that when it comes to freelancing companies MUST look at skill not cost and at least provide U.S. with a fighting chance at the projects. I have had companies who asked me to build them a full scale website for 200 bucks!

This is why I am hoping to make a difference with the blog i just started to guide companies to focus on quality versus cost savings. My blog is outsourceeffectively.com

By: damangmedia

damangmedia — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:33:52 +0000

I agree with William freelancing is a business and for a lot of individuals it is a great start into the realm of the self employed.

I think another factor in this increase is the access to technology to allow people to work from different locations. This technology has taken down some of the barriers to start as a freelancer as well.

Virtual offices and Virtual teams are becoming a great way to build and grow a business without huge capital investment. (article for those interested on virtual teams http://damangmedia.com/virtual-teams/ )

So yes, small business hiring has declined but people working I think overall is increasing, just not as track-able as the standard brick and mortar business. Thoughts?

Thanks for sharing.

By: Nicole Miller

Nicole Miller — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:16:14 +0000

Because services like Elance and oDesk cater to a *global* workforce, we have to be extremely careful in suspecting work in the U.S. economy is shifting to U.S. freelancers. In more cases than not, it’s probably shifting offshore. We also have to be extremely careful about supposed ‘stats’ from those services, as they can be misleading. Elance, for example, boasts a growing number of job posts (job opportunities), but neglects to indicate whether (1) those opportunities are actually fulfilled, and (2) those opportunities are fulfilled by U.S. contractors.

By: William Bierce

William Bierce — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:11:36 +0000

Freelancing is actually a small business. The freelancer is an entrepreneur competing with staff augmentation firms. The freelancer now has the tools to market directly, disintermediating the staffing firm. But the staffing firm can re-intermediate if it offers a managed service in a business function.

The challenge for the freelancer is to syndicate into a community that creates a new web-based business of a virtual small business. As a small law firm with a global reach, we use this model to get talent when we need it. You should do an article on the tools and practical rules for such virtual business communities using networks of people, organizations and technology.

William B. Bierce
Bierce & Kenerson, P.C.
New York