Freelancers are 'cautiously optimistic' about the future

by Susie Hughes at 12:09 28/01/15 (News on Business)

Freelancers are cautiously optimistic about the year ahead, believing the number of contracts available will grow, but revenue will remain the same.

Advertisement Despite the political uncertainty ahead of May’s general election, business performance for freelancers accelerated in Q4 2014 with an increase in quarterly income of 7.4 per cent on the previous quarter, according to a survey conducted by freelancer and self-employed group, IPSE. Suneeta Johal, Research Manager at IPSE and co-author of The Freelancer Confidence Index, said: “The survey shows a strong end to 2014 with freelance businesses performing well. The results suggest the number of contracts will continue to grow and capacity for freelancers will increase as demand for services rises. “However, business confidence among freelancers has fallen and the general perception is the economy will perform only marginally better in 2015, although their own businesses will remain stable. Nearly half of the respondents expect there will be no change in revenue and over half expect input costs to rise over the next twelve months.” Hayley Conick, from online work specialist Elance-oDesk, who co-authored the report, said: “A key finding from this research was that the freelancers working via online workplaces showed higher levels of confidence in regard to their future earnings prospects. These innovative professionals are less dependent on physical location and are therefore taking advantage of a broader amount of opportunities - especially as businesses increasingly use the Internet to find talent.” Key findings Key findings from the Freelancer Confidence Index: Overall, business confidence amongst freelancers is cautious for 2015 which could be due to additional factors such as uncertainty around the General Election Business performance for freelancers accelerated in Q4 of 2014 with quarterly income increasing by 7.4 per cent on the previous quarter The number of freelancer contracts is continuing to grow with momentum Over half (51 per cent) of freelancers expect their input costs to rise over the next 12 months Revenue for IPSE members was varied in 2014 and 45.7 per cent of respondents expect no change in the year ahead. 30.2 per cent of respondents expect an increase in revenue throughout 2015, whereas 24.2 per cent anticipate a decrease There was higher optimism from the Elance-oDesk respondents with regard to both revenues and business confidence. Nearly 38 per cent of Elance-oDesk freelancers have seen a rise in revenues over the last three months and 53 per cent anticipate further increases over the next 12 months. Full analysis can be found in the Freelancer Confidence Index Q4 2014. Tweet -- If you wish to comment on this article, please log in and use the Reply button below. Registering is free and easy - see 'Join Shout99'. - Susie Hughes © Shout99 2015

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