FREELANCE SURVEY2012

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� A word on the methodology used

� How the market for freelancers looks like

� What is the freelancer facing? The freelancer perspective

� Freelancers and Service Providers, a Win-Win scenario?

� Conclusions

Content

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What is a Freelancer?

We define a freelancer as an interim manager, or expertworking on a temporary and

independent basis with a company or organization.

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Freelance Survey

Online March - April

2012

500 respondents

Joint initiative

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Fast MovingFin

ance, B

ankin

g &

Insurance

Automotive, Transport & Logistics

IT &

Tele

com

Oth

er

Healthcare - ICT

Utilities Public

Media

Travel, Tourism & HoReCa

Non p

rofit

Bio

technolo

gy

Education

Creative, Art, Culture, Photography, etc

Who were these 500 Freelancers?Industries

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Finance & AccountingProject Management

Marketin

g &

Com

municatio

n

ICT

HR &

Train

ing

Sale

s

Administration Operations: Production, manufacturing & quality

Other

Procurement, supply chain & logistics

Customer ServiceLegal

R&D &

Engin

eerin

g

Who were these 500 Freelancers?Activity domains

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2%

22%

44%

25%

7%

26-30

31-40

41-50

51-60

61-72

7%

14%

14%

12%

9%

6%

6%

6%

3%

1%

4%

19%

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

>10

Age Experience

Who were these 500 Freelancers?Age & Experience

N = 343 N = 198

55%

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N = 380

Who were these 500 Freelancers?Gender

79%

21%

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9

13% 24%

41%

12%

4%

2%

4%

5%

31%

13%

60%

23%Abroad

Who were these 500 Freelancers?Regions of activity

N = 372

“Golden Triangle”

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THE MARKET FOR FREELANCE ASSIGNMENTS

How the market for freelancers looks like

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N = 418

2012

After some challenging years, the freelancers anticipate a positive trend

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N = 64N = 422

85%

8%

4%

1%

2%

15%

Did you find an assignment during last 6 months of 2011?

I didn't find an assignment

It was my choice not to have an

assignment

I'm a freelancer only since 2012

Other

Yes No

Chargeability over the last 6 months

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55% of freelancers feel and expect higher competition

2009 2010 H1 - 2011 H2 - 2011 H1 - 2012 H2 - 2012

Competition is increasing

N = 407

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N = 398

2009 2010 H1 - 2011 H2 - 2011 H1 - 2012 H2 - 2012

Fee evolution is negative

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10%5% 8% 12%

65%

55% 44%23%

21%

28%32%

37%

4%6%

6%21%

5%5% 5%4% 2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Bachelor or

High school

short type

Master or

High school

long type or

university

Post

university

PHD/ MBA

Impact of education on fee

300-499 500-699 700-899

900-1099 1100-1299 1300-1500

N = 295N = 301

N = 282

550

600

650

700

750

31-40 41-50 51-60 61-72

Impact of age on fee

Average fee Median Fee

711

640

500

550

600

650

700

750

Man Woman

Impact of gender on fee

Average Fee Median Fee

Age, Gender & Education are factors that influence the daily fee

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N = 334 N = 340

N = 340 N = 309

600

620

640

660

680

700

720

740

0-3

months

4-6

months

7-12

months

1-2 years More than

2 years

Average Fee per Assignment Duration

600

650

700

750

2 3 4 5

Average rate per billable days per week

747 727 714 709 705 705 704 698 698 687 673 663

0100200300400500600700800

Impact of sector on fee

Average Fee

Median Fee

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

550

600

650

700

750

800

850

Impact of roles on fee

Average Fee

Count

Median Fee

The assignment role and sector also have impact

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What is the freelancer facing?The freelancer perspective

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N = 496

Once a freelancer, ‘always’ a freelancer

61% would not return to a payroll

job

Only 3% considers returning to a payroll job

Remarkably, those considering to return don’t match the ones that became freelancer through restructuring

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N = 496 N = 488

What drives and what holds you back?

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- Older Freelancers work less days per week than their younger peers.- Only 27% of 60+ work 5 days a week

N = 362

1%

5%

16%

28%

49%

1%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

1

2

3

4

5

6

Billable days per week

For over 50%, the 5-day week is not the standard

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N = 375

The own network preferred and most efficient sourcing channel, closely followed by service providers

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

Own network

(including prior

clients)

Service providers Direct contact

with current

clients

Online sites for

searching

freelance jobs

Social media

Net Promoter Score – Effectiveness Channel

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N = 282

42%

31%

13%

5%3%

7%7%

23% 22%20%

11%16%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Once a

week

Once a

month

Once

every 3

months

Once

every 6

months

Once

every

year

Less then

once a

year

Frequency of Networking

online network (N=230)

networking events (N=369)

- Linkedin is most important channel (415 first degree contacts)- Own website is perceived as (rather) important to 34% of FL’s.

Yes

61%

No

39%

Actively participatingin online networks

N = 375

Regarding this own network, ‘online’ is not omnipresent, but done more frequently

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N = 490

Over 1/4th of Freelancers has more than 1 assignment

1/4th of Freelancers has extra remunerated activities

75%

25%

No

Yes

N = 401

Common extra activities:• Accounting• Teaching/Coaching• Directorship• Sales

45%

26%

29%One

Multiple

None

How to mitigate the Financial uncertainty

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N = 326

This means that on average, a freelancer is billable for 81%Partially, this is an own choice.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >7

Average length in months in between assignments

Finding assignments: the average length between assignments is 2,28 months

50%

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The ideal assignment length is 7-12 months (seconded by assignments of 1-2 years)

13%

20%

32%

22%

13%9%

20%

35%31%

6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

0-3 months 4-6 months 7-12

months

1-2 years More than 2

years

Assignment Duration

average duration (N = 406)

ideal duration (N = 409)

Freelancers want and get assignments of 7 months to 2 years

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Freelancers and Service Providers, a Win-Win scenario?

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N = 393

82%

18%

Do you have experience in working withService Providers?

Yes

No 43%

57%

Would you consider to work via 1 service provider exclusively?

N = 319

Facts & Figures

35% of ALL freelancers consider working

exclusively

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Type Definition

Match makers simply connecting demand & supply

Expertise domain experts focusing on only one domain

Umbrella agents you work under the brand of the agent without any support

Quality agents you work under the brand and you get support to guarantee quality

Big 4 Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG andPricewaterhouseCoopers

Different types of service providers

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N = 310 N = 302

12%7%

22% 20%10%

28%

25%

32% 38% 58%

15%

3%

8%4%

10%37%

47%

33%25%

19%

8%19%

7%13%

4%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Match

makers

Expertise

domain

experts

Umbrella

agents

Quality

agents

Big 4

Which type of Service Provider do you know andworked with?

I always work with them

I sometimes work with them

I know the type but I’m not interested in working with them

I know the type but never worked with them

I don’t know this type

6%

5%

16%

41%

6%

26%

0% 20% 40%

Big 4

None

Match makers

Expertise domain

experts

Umbrella agents

Quality agents

For which type of agent are you most likelywilling to work in the future?

Facts & Figures: Who is the preferred partner?

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33%29%

24%

11%

2%0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

I don't like

they take a

margin on

my fee

I don't see

their added

value

I want to

remain

independent

Did not

know that

existed

Other

Why wouldn’t you work with a Service Provider?

N = 65

* 65 out of the 500 respondentsanswered this question

7 16 5 16

157

7 3 8 80

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Bad

communication/relationship

Bad profile vs assignment

match

Body Shopping

Competition with other

FL/Internal Consultants

High interm

ediary m

argin

Lack of follow-

up/support/feedback

Low contact with end-client /

purpose of the assignement

Short term

ism

Treatm

ent as subordinate

iso partner

Disadvantages of SP's

N = 258

Hate-Love relation: What FL don’t like about SP’s

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N = 315 N = 308

5%2% 4% 2% 3%

11%

5%

12%

22%

16% 17%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Loyalty from 0 (not loyal) to 10 (absolutely loyal)

Loyalty FL towards service providers

8%6%

8% 8%5%

14%

9%

15%13%

7% 8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Loyalty from 0 (not loyal) to 10 (absolutely loyal)

Loyalty service providers towards FL

Average loyalty of Freelancers towards Service Providers; 7,92

Average loyalty of Service Providers towards Freelancers; 6,34 >

Hate-Love relation: Loyalty

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N = 417

55%

21%14% 7%

2%0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

I will contact a

diversity of service

providers

I will stay working a

a freelancer without

commiting to a

service provider

I will commit to one

service provider

I will try to get a

permanent position

Other

What will be your most likely strategy in times of crisis?

Hate-Love relation: But in times of crisis

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N = 363

68%

52% 52% 50%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Sharing knowledge Organizing

network events

Support during

assignments

Organizing

trainings

Main actions that Service Providers can take or developfurther to optimize your role as Freelancer

Freelancers have clear expectations

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N =

138

Guaranteed number of

chargeable days

Administrative assistance

Network possibilities

Support during

assignments

Training possibilities

Lead generation fees

Earning of quality label:

references,,,

Access to company

knowledge

Primary motivators to work through

SP’s

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56%

45%

31%

22%

15%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Expertise

domain experts

Quality agents Match makers Big 4 Umbrella agents

Willingness to work with current SP

N = 267

Freelancers find this with?

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What did we learn?

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Conclusions on freelancers

Main motivators: autonomy & variation –and not fee or flexibility

Freelancers are aware that market is getting more competitive

Gender inequality in fees

Social media: present, but not as anassignment finder

Higher education resultsin higher fees

Important sourcingchannels: own network& service providers

Preferred type of service provider: expertise domain experts

Concerns towardsservice providers: margin, added value, loyalty

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Conclusions on service providers

Finding the right assignments

Financial compensations

Expertise development

Networking

ONCE A FREELANCER, ALWAYS A FREELANCER