According to the Global Survey on Freelancing by Agile Talent Collaborative and the University of Toronto, and conducted from March-June 2021, together with a growing freelance support ecosystem – tech products and services but also finance, business services, travel and events – the industry delivers well more than a trillion in global GDP (Forbes, 2021).

Freelancers are busy, engaged, and optimistic.  Our survey found over 60% or more of freelancers have enough or too much work, report satisfying relationships with clients, say they’ll meet their financial goals, and remain committed to freelancing. These data fit well with demand trends: Over 90% of companies depend on freelancers and plan to increase their use. 

John Younger, forbes, 2021

After the Covid-19 pandemic, more and more companies relied on Freelancers to complete project-based tasks or to further combined with their ordinary workforce to complement daily operations. It is usually for the corporation not to practice such “risky” operations before the pandemic, however, due to the strong preference for working-from-home practice and works culture nowadays, the corporation is now more open to the idea of combining both on-site and off-site workforces. And the off-site workforce comprises mostly part-time or project-based freelancers.

Many countries starting to provide support for these gig workforce in order to protect the labor and productivity of these gig economies. In Singapore, the governmental departments and National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) have stepped up efforts to further upskills the freelancer, which the government estimated there are more than 200,000 of them in 2019.

NTUC and the Freelancers and Self-Employed Unit (U FSE) recognized the need to represent workers in the gig economy and is playing an active role in advocating and advancing the interests of these workers. Through associations such as NICA, we have initiated discussions with the relevant sector government ministries and agencies on how we can work together to strengthen frameworks and put safeguards in place to support the livelihoods of freelancers under their purview

New Straits Times, 2022

It is a great effort to see the trade association and government agencies to step in protect freelancers and regulate the employers of these gig workers. So, this freelancer will not fall victim to the cost-cutting measures of the corporation to sub-contracted their job, further squeezing the contribution from these non-contract workers.

Reference:

Forbes, 2021. What We Learned From The Global Survey On Freelancing. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonyounger/2021/10/26/what-we-learned-from-the-global-survey-on-freelancing/?sh=37608d77392f

New Straits Times (NST), 2022. Helping the self-employed upskill and grow their careers. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/jobs/self-employed-freelancers-upskill-grow-careers-virtual-coaching-NTUC-NICA