Businesses facing the prospect of a double dip recession are turning to freelancers to cut costs, according to new research from PeoplePerHour.com.
The site reports a 94 percent increase in the number of UK businesses signing up to outsource work to freelance consultants in the last 12 months.
There was a particularly large increase of 102 percent of internet companies outsourcing work, with further increases in education (170 percent increase), engineering firms (167 percent increase) and entertainment (a 124 percent increase).
The majority of the firms choose to outsource to save money, employing freelance consultants for defined short-term jobs in HR, design, PR and marketing.
PeoplePerHour.com founder and CEO Xenios Thrasyvoulou said: “In the last year when we thought the economy was pulling out of recession, businesses were still taking action to reduce costs.
Businesses, however, have found many positives working with freelance consultants. They cite high levels of creativity, motivation and a diversity of skills that bring significant added benefits to their businesses.”
