India Inc hunts for freelance talent to stay ahead in race
Bengaluru: Freelance professionals, especially those in technology, are reaping the gains of a demand spurt as India Inc increasingly looks outward for specialised expertise to stay ahead in a fast-evolving digital landscape while maintaining flexibility in uncertain market conditions.
At Flexing It, an online platform connecting professionals and organisations, the demand for freelance talent has shot up, with a 40% rise in tech project engagements year-on-year. TeamLease Digital noted an about 25-30% jump in freelance/gig hiring in the past one year.
Several factors, including companies seeking access to specialised and emerging skills they may lack internally, maintaining cost flexibility, focus on innovation and external perspectives to bring fresh thinking, and bridging capability gaps in new/fast-evolving domains, where building in-house expertise is time-consuming are spurring the adoption of freelance talent, said Chandrika Pascricha, CEO, Flexing It.
"An interesting trend we have seen recently is the much higher growth in demand for specialised skills such as AI and its applications, cybersecurity, IT governance, and digital transformation," she added.
According to Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital, accelerated adoption of AI and cloud technologies, shorter and more iterative projects cycles, the maturity of remote work infrastructure and a growing preference for skills-on-demand model are enabling this growth.
Pan-sector demand
Banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), IT services, retail technology, and healthtech sectors are seeing the highest volume of freelancers, said Sharma. "Even large IT services firms are increasingly blending freelance and contractual resources into hybrid delivery models to maintain workforce flexibility amid uncertain global demand and evolving client expectations," she said.
At Flexing It, the top three sectors contributing 60% of the demand are industrials (heavy manufacturing, engineering services, etc.), healthcare (pharma, hospitals and healthcare, etc.), and consulting (professional services, legal services, etc.). Only a tenth of demand is from technology and IT firms, while the remainder is from sectors such as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and automotive, among others.
Roles on the radar
Other than talent with specialised skills, organisations are increasingly favouring senior professionals in advisory and leadership roles, notably in CTO and CIO roles, business analysis, and quality assurance. In parallel, there is sustained demand for implementation-focused expertise at the junior and mid-levels, particularly across software development, project and programme management, data science, and analytics.
At Flexing It, an online platform connecting professionals and organisations, the demand for freelance talent has shot up, with a 40% rise in tech project engagements year-on-year. TeamLease Digital noted an about 25-30% jump in freelance/gig hiring in the past one year.
Several factors, including companies seeking access to specialised and emerging skills they may lack internally, maintaining cost flexibility, focus on innovation and external perspectives to bring fresh thinking, and bridging capability gaps in new/fast-evolving domains, where building in-house expertise is time-consuming are spurring the adoption of freelance talent, said Chandrika Pascricha, CEO, Flexing It.
According to Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital, accelerated adoption of AI and cloud technologies, shorter and more iterative projects cycles, the maturity of remote work infrastructure and a growing preference for skills-on-demand model are enabling this growth.
Pan-sector demand
Banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), IT services, retail technology, and healthtech sectors are seeing the highest volume of freelancers, said Sharma. "Even large IT services firms are increasingly blending freelance and contractual resources into hybrid delivery models to maintain workforce flexibility amid uncertain global demand and evolving client expectations," she said.
At Flexing It, the top three sectors contributing 60% of the demand are industrials (heavy manufacturing, engineering services, etc.), healthcare (pharma, hospitals and healthcare, etc.), and consulting (professional services, legal services, etc.). Only a tenth of demand is from technology and IT firms, while the remainder is from sectors such as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and automotive, among others.
Roles on the radar
Other than talent with specialised skills, organisations are increasingly favouring senior professionals in advisory and leadership roles, notably in CTO and CIO roles, business analysis, and quality assurance. In parallel, there is sustained demand for implementation-focused expertise at the junior and mid-levels, particularly across software development, project and programme management, data science, and analytics.
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