According to Upwork's Future Workforce Report of 2022, the job market remains strong despite a 20-year high number of workers leaving their job and not returning in the last two and a half years.

Tony Buffum, Upwork’s vice president of human relations client strategy, told Flexible Work News that almost all companies are looking to hire, although the report notes that businesses are struggling to find quality talent to fill specific positions. Upwork reports many businesses are looking to freelance workers and independent professionals who possess quality talent. The report surveyed more than 1,000 hiring managers from April 25-May 10 through an independent party.

Buffum said there are many reasons people have left the workforce.

Tony Buffum, Upwork’s vice president of human relations client strategy | LinkedIn

“A recent Pew Research Center survey found that everything from low pay, a lack of opportunities for advancement and feeling disrespected at work were the top reasons why Americans quit their jobs last year,” he said. “The survey also found that those who quit and are now employed elsewhere are more likely to say their current job has better pay, more opportunities for advancement and more work-life balance and flexibility. Lack of work-life balance and flexibility in a world where it’s become an expectation (not a perk), I believe, is a large part of why workers have left the workforce.

“Particularly within the context of shifting values brought about by the pandemic, workers who aren’t finding that their jobs offer the flexibility they need to strike the right work-life balance, are leaving,” Buffum said. “Not just professionals, but front line workers as well! Inflexible work situations have also led to an overwhelming number of caregivers leaving the workforce. As expected, constraints on employees with caregiving responsibilities led to a disproportionate number of women leaving the workforce in the past several years. This is during a time when we’re trying to entice female professionals back into the workforce.”

“The Great Resignation” is absolutely real, Buffum said, and there are abundant statistics to prove it.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of August, 43% of businesses said that The Great Resignation has negatively impacted their organization.

“At Upwork, we call it the ‘Work Awakening,’” he said. “COVID-19 accelerated trends that were already underway such as the move to hybrid and remote work and the higher than ever value workers place on flexibility. When the pandemic thrust so many workers and workplaces into a state of transition and uncertainty, it forced many to reevaluate their relationship with work and reassess what they valued in an employer or career.

“Just as businesses had to explore new ways of getting work done, workers began to explore new ways of deriving value from work and taking more control of their work lives,” Buffum said. “This existed within a labor market where employees had leverage and businesses were left scrambling to compete for talent. A perfect storm to drive rapid change.”

He said in the wake of COVID-19, businesses continue to face challenges in identifying, attracting, competing for and retaining great talent — especially when they need it.

Where are companies looking for employees?

“In short, the answer is ‘everywhere,’" Buffum said. “One of the great things about this market is that HR no longer needs to rely on the local talent pool to fill open positions. Great talent could be across the country and across the world, if you’re willing to embrace the opportunities that exist for both businesses and talent with remote, flexible work and hybrid teams."

According to the report, the top job categories that are most needed right now are accounting (33%), IT and networking (30%) and operations (29%). Additionally, customer-support jobs will be a priority for businesses.

Recruitment in general has been specifically challenging for businesses since The Great Resignation, as 60% of surveyed employers said “it is currently hard to find quality talent to fill positions” with data science and analytics being the toughest roles to fill.

Upwork sees independent and freelance work as the solution. According to the report, “56% of hiring managers that engage independent talent say they have increased utilization of independent talent over the past 12 months, 58% plan to increase utilization of independent talent over the next six months, as well as over the next two years (66%).”

Freelancing has become increasingly popular in the past few years due to rapidly evolving and efficient technology, Buffum said.

“The key thing to remember is that the talent isn’t necessarily searching for you in this climate, you may need to go to them,” he said. “This is part of the shift from ‘talent acquisition’ to ‘talent access.’ The workforce is remote, so go remote. The workforce is going freelance, so figure out how best to engage freelance talent.”

“The Great Resignation isn’t just about workers moving from one full-time job to another,” Buffum said. “Deloitte data shows that already more than a third of talent is working independently in this new talent economy. Our Upwork report found that 20% of respondents are considering freelancing. Among those, 73% cite the ability to work remote or flexibly as a reason why. 

“This offers workers an accessible, frictionless flexibility they haven’t experienced before. The ability to work remotely, set your own schedule and rates, define your work-life balance, and to choose which projects to take on, appeals to many skilled workers, especially younger workers,” he said. “Since the pandemic accelerated adoption of remote work, the rise in freelancing is no surprise.”

Buffum offered a piece of advice to those looking to work independently: Align your offering with the skills and services businesses need the most.

“Recently, the most in-demand skills on Upwork include copywriting, digital marketing, web design and development, and graphic design,” he said. “If you need to sharpen your skills in one of these high-demand areas, take advantage of online learning platforms and alternative credentialing programs. The most successful freelancers are those who consistently improve their skills and adapt to market needs. 

“Most importantly, remember that as a freelancer you will need to be your own best advocate,” Buffum said. “In addition to marketing yourself to find clients, you will have to make sure the expectations on both sides of the arrangement are clear and that both you and your clients uphold your end of the bargain. Being your own boss can be extremely rewarding, but it can also be challenging and require you to learn and develop new skills, regularly.”

Key findings from the report say that nearly 69% of hiring managers expect staffing to increase over the next six months while at the same time, 60% are seeing challenges when hiring quality talent. Because of this, nearly 80% of managers who have hired freelance work say they are “confident in their ability to find the talent they need” compared to 63% who don’t hire freelance workers.

Most — 85% — say freelance workers possess specific skills and expertise, 79% say freelance talent makes their business more “innovative,” while 84% of businesses that use freelancers say they are confident in the company’s “ability to respond to disruption.”

A majority of businesses say they will continue to turn to freelance talent in the near future.

Upwork’s report concludes by finding that businesses that have strategized new ways to hire and retain talent will thrive in the next six months.

“An effective talent strategy that can scale and contract as needed is key for businesses to navigate uncertainty,” the report states.

An important trend of the last few years, ushered in by COVID-19, social and political unrest, is that HR is an even greater urgent need and has an even greater organizational impact than ever before on the organization. From the talent pipeline to the employee experience, and from leadership communications and corporate culture to employer brand, business leaders know they need to rely on HR’s position at the table and throughout the business. HR can lead the charge on shifting businesses from an archaic talent acquisition, retention mindset and stagnant cultural model to a more forward-looking mindset of transparency, flexibility, and opportunity for all. 

As for future trends, Workday’s recent Employee Expectations Report found flexibility will continue to be a priority workers want and something employers will need to have in order to remain competitive. By and large, workers want the option to work remotely at least part time. According to Upwork research on The Great Resignation, 15% were willing to take a pay cut to go remote and another 26% would consider it. 

This underscores the fact that remote or hybrid work will continue to be a trend for businesses who want to attract great talent, since 17% of professionals that were working remotely during the pandemic would probably or definitely consider looking for another job if they have to go back to the office. This represents 9 million workers.

“Businesses are adapting their hiring and marketing strategies in many ways,” Buffum said. “They are working to build strong employer brands that showcase their culture, using satisfied employees as an example. They are adopting more flexible, scalable solutions such as implementing a hybrid workforce combining full-time workers and independent contributors that can scale depending on shifting business needs. And crucially, businesses have been putting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts front and center, realizing that workers are increasingly holding organizations accountable for creating safe, diverse communities and that taking a proactive approach to DEI can lead to positive business results.”