Innovative Strategies for Harnessing Freelance Talent

For most organisations, short-term critical talent is generally untracked and unmanaged inside HR and procurement programmes. The market for short-term, outcome-based work is increasing with 28% of skilled knowledge workers currently operating in some capacity as freelancers or independent professionals. As companies unlock the ROI in freelance engagements, contingent worker programmes need to adapt to capture and manage this important talent. A great freelancer experience, seamless onboarding and enabling technology are the cornerstones of success. In this article, you’ll get an update on the freelancer landscape, how to identify these resources and learn the components to building a business case for freelance talent. 

Freelancers – self-employed, independent contractors who perform jobs transiently and are unaffiliated with a particular employer – bring agility, specialised expertise and cost efficiency to modern workforces. To capture these advantages, organisations need a structured approach to sourcing, onboarding and collaborating with independent professionals.  

At Allegis Global Solutions, we understand how to effectively manage freelancers and the components of a strong business case for freelance management. As an executive at AGS Managed Services (AGS), my goal is to share practical strategies for managing freelance talent — including defining needs, choosing technologies and ensuring legal compliance — while demonstrating how AGS builds scalable, compliant freelance programs with full visibility across the extended workforce.  

Understanding the Freelance Landscape 

The independent workforce has matured into a core component of the talent mix. Freelancers comprise roughly 36% of the total US workforce (72.9 million), and since 2000, the number of freelancers in Europe has increased by 45%, including approximately 4.4 million in the UK. This growth is driven by demand for digital skills, remote-first engagements and project-based outcomes that allow organisations to scale up and down quickly. 

Companies blend full-time employees, contingent workers and freelancers to meet shifting priorities and accelerate delivery. Freelancers cover a broad range of disciplines — software engineering, UX design, data science, marketing, copywriting, legal review, finance and specialised consulting — often operating as micro-businesses delivering end-to-end outcomes. 

When managed well, embracing freelance talent leads to improved user experiences for hiring managers and contractors, reduced time to productivity, greater visibility into total contingent workforce spend and meaningful efficiencies and cost savings. AGS helps organisations incorporate freelance talent into their workforce strategies, leveraging freelance marketplaces and curating talent pools to attract and retain top freelance professionals.

Defining the Tools and Technologies for Managing Freelancers  

To fully realise the benefits of freelance talent, organisations must embed effective management practices directly into their day-to-day operations. This starts with understanding the core tools and platforms that facilitate seamless collaboration between hiring teams and independent professionals.  

By leveraging both digital freelance marketplaces and comprehensive freelance management systems (FMS), companies can efficiently source, contract and oversee freelance engagements while maintaining control and visibility. Below are definitions of these essential components, which serve as the foundation for a modern, scalable and compliant approach to freelance workforce management. 

Freelance marketplace:

A model, also known as a temporary labour marketplace or talent platform, that enables specific hirers and freelance workers to enter into, complete and transact work arrangements through a website or digital platform.  

Freelance management system: 

A cloud-based workforce management platform that helps businesses initiate, manage, complete, track and analyse engagements with freelancers (both sourced via the provider or pre-identified). To qualify as an FMS, the technology must provide end-to-end capabilities — from searching and identifying a worker through to payment.

Implementing an FMS: Strategies for Success

An FMS helps HR and procurement leaders streamline freelance hiring and management by simplifying sourcing, contracting and onboarding. FMSs can integrate with existing HR, procurement and vendor management systems (VMS) to ensure end-to-end visibility across the extended workforce and a seamless user experience. 

The advantages are amplified when your independent talent strategy is anchored by AGS’ Acumen® Intelligent Workforce Platform from the outset. The process begins with Acumen’s IWP “front door”, where each assignment is intelligently evaluated and seamlessly routed to the most effective channel, ensuring that quality talent is sourced quickly and efficiently. With Acumen, you gain unparalleled visibility across your entire workforce — encompassing permanent staff, freelancers, contingent workers and service providers. 

Supporting every stage of the freelance engagement, FMSs enable quick talent matching, automate contracts and ensure timely, compliant payments. These systems reduce administrative burden, help maintain positive working relationships, and allow organisations to efficiently manage and scale their freelance workforce as needed. 

Visibility and compliance are essential for managing freelancers. An integrated FMS offers real-time dashboards for oversight, uses classification tools to verify worker status and connects with Employer of Record (EOR) payroll and Agent of Record (AOR) partners to ensure global compliance for all workers engaged. In addition, optimising communication is a key benefit, with centralised messaging and document sharing keeping stakeholders informed and accountable. Secure data storage, role-based access and platform integration support organisation-wide adoption and trust. 

To maximise ROI and reduce friction, an FMS should provide analytics for tracking key metrics and can integrate with VMS platforms to ensure policy compliance and control over all contingent work. Leveraging freelance marketplaces and curated talent pools streamlines hiring and supports agility.

Visibility Into the Freelance Workforce: The Struggle Is Real

Many organisations struggle with hidden or mishandled freelance talent. Direct independent contractor (IC) relationships and rehiring are rising, yet traditional VMSs are not always built for the short, niche outcome-based engagements common to freelancers. According to a Worksome client survey, onboarding ICs can take three to four weeks. Research from Ardent Partners indicates that 50% of companies report having concerns about compliance when managing freelancers — leading to lengthy legal checks and slowed onboarding, frustrating freelancers who expect to start quickly.  

According to the IRS, companies face over $1 billion in tax penalties from misclassification risks when processes are not followed. Further, 10-30% of US employers have misclassified employees as independent contractors, exposing themselves to legal and financial risks. And only 30% of companies are aware of the risks associated with freelance misclassification.  

Unlike traditional VMSs, FMSs are specifically designed for freelance and independent talent engagement. The optimal approach is to have FMS and VMS platforms working in tandem, with Acumen at the centre, orchestrating the assignment of work to the most appropriate channels. Recently, talent platforms have made significant strides in partnering with VMSs, resulting in rapid integrations and a more cohesive talent management ecosystem. 

According to Staffing Industry Analysts’ 2025 Global Talent Platform Survey, 65% of talent platforms (which include freelance marketplaces and FMSs) are currently engaged with a managed service provider (MSP) and 57% with a VMS, both record highs, reflecting deeper integration between enterprise-grade workforce programmes and talent platforms. 

As a leading MSP, AGS partners with various FMSs to meet the freelance and IC management needs of our clients. For example, Worksome’s FMS has a modern interface designed for freelance engagement, with tools to manage and review talent pools, approve hiring, orchestrate onboarding, ensure worker compliance and facilitate payments and reporting. Advanced features, including semantic profile search, help organisations redeploy talent efficiently and maintain full visibility into freelancer activity. 

The implication: visibility and governance must extend to all forms of independent work, not only vendor-driven placements. Applying strategies for managing freelance talent across these modes, supported by freelance project management tools, reduces risk and improves outcomes. 

Accelerating Success with Agile Freelance Workforce Strategies

The marketplace is evolving at a rapid pace, with mergers and acquisitions signalling a clear trend: AOR/EOR providers are joining forces with FMS technologies, and VMS platforms are increasingly integrating with FMS providers and talent marketplaces. While these shifts may initially create a period of adjustment, it is crucial to keep a close eye on these developments and consider how they may reshape service models in the near future. 

At AGS, we are committed to supporting our customers as they navigate this dynamic landscape. Together, we can examine areas of the business that currently present challenges or lack visibility in reporting. By highlighting the key traits of these gaps, we encourage our customers to identify and engage with untapped talent pools, working collaboratively to unlock their full potential. 

Looking ahead, freelance talent will play an integral role in driving business outcomes. Existing approaches often overlook the importance of user experience, niche expertise and the rapid impact freelancers can provide. These distinct drivers call for a fresh perspective on talent management — one that embraces agility and innovation to truly harness the value of independent professionals.