Growth & Reinvention in the White Collar Gig Economy Post COVID-19

As global demand for skilled freelancers grows, Flexing It’s recent research reported a 2x spike in consultant registrations signalling a significant mind set shift amongst professionals as they increasingly see freelancing as a smarter strategy in an uncertain global job market. As a result of the economic uncertainty Flexing It has also seen a much sharper focus among its consultants on upskilling and business development in order to differentiate themselves amidst an increasingly competitive landscape for the best freelance talent.

Consultants are aligning business development strategies to meet demand, and focussing on current clients, and shorter projects. Overall, consultants are finding that they need to be attuned , and accordingly adjust/craft their business development approach and pitch, to meet changes in demand e.g. for specific skills, remote capabilities as well as cost cutting as businesses re-align. Anubhav R., a strategy and business development consultant, says-

“A lot of successful clients have used this time to explore short-term pivots (especially around going digital). In terms of pitching there is a lot more interest around understanding & managing costs & resourcing these days and more interest in short-term practical work”.

Overall, while Strategy, followed by Marketing and Technology were top skills in demand on Flexing It’s platform, IT/Technology professionals were the largest category of consultants registering post March 2020. As a result of COVID-19, there has been a greater focus on digital expertise e.g. support for digital transformation, performance marketing, we’re seeing consultants gear up for this by focussing on these skills.

Despite the slow down, many successful freelancers have seen the last few months as a time for reinvention and an optimistic future, using this time to up-skill, gain qualifications and re-orient profiles/portfolios to stay relevant. Chhavi M, an independent HR specialist says

“It’s important for any HR consultant to understand the current requirement of the market and prepare. Companies are looking for new innovative ideas and the focus is on Employee Engagement and Employee Enablement instead of Talent Acquisition.With the work from home scenario, the competition has increased, I’m now exploring opportunities which are high in demand, and on specific niche skills as there are fewer specialized experts in a field than there are generalist”

For many consultants, the pandemic also created an opportunity to begin new ventures — to expand into new verticals or entirely new services. For example, Masroor L, a senior business advisor with his own boutique consultancy launched a bouquet of online services and workshops, also bringing in an extended network of experts in addition to his own team. Maansi G, an experienced business development and marketing consultant successfully branched out and developed a business/leadership coaching business; She said-

“What’s great is there is a shift even from the client stand point to use this time to leverage on future thinking -post COVID whether it is scaling up, developing a new business / vertical etc. I have used this time to develop a new business vertical for myself — in the space of coaching and training and developed a training module in collaboration with partners ”