Admittedly, the year isn't off to such a good start as far as the economy is concerned, but 2008 may hold a lot of promise for freelancers. A recent report from CareerBuilder.com shows that nearly 32 percent of employers surveyed anticipate hiring freelance workers this year. The "2008 Jobs Forecast," is an annual survey conducted by Harris Interactive.
The report states that, "Employers are turning to freelance or contract workers to help support business initiatives as they monitor their pace in recruiting permanent employees." It's not only who they are hiring but where they are hiring that's important to know. According to the survey, 45 percent of employers are using the Internet (online search engines and social networking sites) to recruit, with 19 percent of employers saying they plan to increase their use of online hiring.
No matter where employers recruit from, it may turn out that employers increase the use of freelancers to help fill the hiring gap while looking for permanent workers. For example, the survey indicated that one-in-five employers said it was taking more than two months to fill an open job and 40 percent of those surveyed currently could not fill a job because of the lack of qualified candidates. Hiring freelancers is the ideal way to bridge the hiring gap. What are you waiting for? Go sell your services!