CorpComms Magazine

The number of communication freelancers considering interim roles has seen a significant increase over the past 12 months, says a new survey from the Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC).

More than one third of respondents said that they were more likely to seek an interim role now than 12 months ago, with only nine per cent saying this was less likely.

Commenting on the findings, Deenita Pattni, IoIC's London regional director said: 'There has definitely been a decline in freelance opportunities within the communications sector since 2008 and freelancers who would normally get booked months in advance through their own contact base have gone the recruitment consultancy route to find additional work - some are even happy to consider permanent roles as an option.

'But the tide is now turning and the value that freelancers add to a business is starting to be recognised again. The rise of digital communications has also led to businesses needing freelancers to cover interim projects.'

Despite the challenges, 33 per cent of respondents said that they felt positive about prospects for freelancers over the next 12 months (with 38 per cent feeling neither positive nor negative).

Nearly two thirds of those asked said that their biggest challenge was getting sufficient work, followed by getting satisfactory rates of pay (15 per cent) and coping with heavy workloads (13 per cent).

Respondents cited the most valuable ways of maintaining satisfactory work levels within a challenging environment as diversification (38 per cent of respondents), networking (38 per cent) and marketing services in a variety of ways (19 per cent).

share me: del.icio.us | digg | reddit | Tweet