The Independent Workforce

"There's a business objective, there are skills required for this, and then we have to assess: do we have the skills internally or do we need to source them from outside?"In this episode, we discussed how Poland's fractional and interim management market is evolving, why companies increasingly hire independent experts to drive growth, and how experienced professionals can turn their expertise into successful independent careers, in particular:👉 Why around 60% of Redegate's clients now hire independent experts to pursue business opportunities rather than solve crises.👉 How Żabka strategically works with independent experts to solve challenges, transfer knowledge, and strengthen its internal teams.👉 Why hiring fractional professionals can sometimes be more cost-effective than hiring full-time employees.Join Yurii Lazaruk, an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at freelancermap, and Kacper Pupin, co-founder of Redegate, the #1 Polish platform that challenges traditional hiring by connecting businesses with verified, experienced independent managers and consultants, and also helps grow the interim and fractional management market in Poland.Together, we explore the now and the future of work through the lens of temporary employment, and how companies can get the most out of such collaboration! Connect with Kacper and Yurii on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kacperpupin/https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/Whether you’re looking to hire top freelance talent fast or are a freelancer ready to find your next big project, freelancermap connects the right people with the right work 💪Visit https://www.freelancermap.com/ and start building your next success story today!🚀Timestamps:(00:00) Meet Kacper Pupin(01:34) Why Fractional Focus(06:34) Poland Market Mindset Shift(09:03) Red-Alert vs Growth Projects(12:38) Why Fractional Beats Full Time(14:41) Most In Demand Roles(18:44) Case Study Żabka(23:50) Barriers and Misconceptions(27:58) 2030 Predictions and AI(30:56) AI Impact on Consulting(34:04) Cost Breakdown and ROI(40:03) Advice for Companies and Freelancers#freelance #hiring #futureofwork

"Companies hire a fractional expert for 20 hours a week, but then worry about what they're doing with the other 20 hours. That's a very small mindset."In this episode, we discussed why traditional hiring is holding companies back and how embracing freelancers, flexible work models, and outcome-based collaboration can unlock exceptional global talent, in particular:👉 Why the freelance economy hasn't reached its full potential yet.👉 How perceived risks, compliance concerns, and uncertainty slow freelance adoption.👉 Why successful companies need a mix of permanent employees, freelancers, contractors, and fractional experts.Join Yurii Lazaruk, an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at freelancermap, and Michael Morris, the Global Head of Platform and Talent at Randstad Digital, former CEO of Topcoder, and co-founder of Torc, an AI-powered freelance talent marketplace acquired by Randstad in 2024, who, with over two decades of experience connecting companies with independent tech talent, has seen this industry evolve from the very beginning and been shaping the freelance economy long before it became a hot topic.Together, we explore the now and the future of work through the lens of temporary employment, and how companies can get the most out of such collaboration! Connect with Michael and Yurii on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpmorris36/https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/Whether you’re looking to hire top freelance talent fast or are a freelancer ready to find your next big project, freelancermap connects the right people with the right work 💪Visit https://www.freelancermap.com/ and start building your next success story today!🚀Timestamps:(00:00) Meet Mike Morris(01:16) Is Freelancing Really Hot(03:43) Breaking Hiring Silos(06:45) Pay for Output Not Hours(11:43) Misconceptions and Risk(14:59) Old School Management Mindset(18:15) Fractional Talent and Trust(19:57) Talent Chooses the Model(27:29) Building Diverse Workforces(32:13) Advice for Companies and Freelancers#freelance #hiring #futureofwork

“With usual hiring, you don't always get the best talent. More and more people want flexibility. They may love your project without wanting to work for your company permanently.”In this episode, we discussed how companies can move from occasionally using interim managers to intentionally building independent experts into their workforce strategy, in particular:👉 Why interim management has moved from being misunderstood to becoming a strategic workforce tool.👉 Why your company's internal experience may already be several years out of date.👉 Why companies should stop thinking about employees and freelancers as an either/or decision.Join Yurii Lazaruk, an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at freelancermap, and Elina Liehu, the founder of Ferovalo and Best Best Talent Platform, where she is building new ways for companies to quickly connect with interim managers, fractional executives, and independent experts, who is driven by an idea that progress happens when the right people connect at the right time.Together, we explore the now and the future of work through the lens of temporary employment, and how companies can get the most out of such collaboration! Connect with Elina and Yurii on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/elinaliehu/https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/Whether you’re looking to hire top freelance talent fast or are a freelancer ready to find your next big project, freelancermap connects the right people with the right work 💪Visit https://www.freelancermap.com/ and start building your next success story today!🚀Timestamps:(00:00) Meet Elina Liehu(01:49) How Attitudes Changed(04:20) From Ad Hoc to Strategic(06:36) Why Companies Should Start(11:23) Blended Workforce Mindset(13:20) Stigma of Getting Help(15:37) Next Hiring Blockers(18:25) Building Trust Fast(21:40) Reference Checks in Practice(24:23) What to Ask References(29:25) Why References Are Project Specific(33:52) Why Focus on Independents(36:19) Community and Networking Flywheel(39:58) Advice for Talent and Companies#freelance #hiring #futureofwork

“Start with the problem and look at your own situation. Don’t copy other companies because of so-called best practices. What are your challenges, your needs, your problems? What do you want to solve?”In this episode, we discussed how companies can move beyond using freelancers as temporary replacements and build a blended workforce where independent experts bring capacity, capability, fresh perspectives, and lasting impact, in particular:👉 Shift from occasional freelance hiring toward total talent management and workforce planning.👉 The difference between hiring freelancers for capacity and bringing them in for capability and lasting impact.👉 How freelancers can combine consulting-level expertise with hands-on implementation from inside the organisation.Join Yurii Lazaruk, an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at freelancermap, and Edward Vanhoutte, a Founder and Managing Partner of Beam, who has spent more than two decades working at the intersection of HR, transformation, and independent expertise, and now helps companies bring in experienced freelance HR leaders not just to fill a temporary gap, but to leave the internal team stronger than before.Together, we explore the now and the future of work through the lens of temporary employment, and how companies can get the most out of such collaboration! Connect with Edward and Yurii on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanhoutte/https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/Whether you’re looking to hire top freelance talent fast or are a freelancer ready to find your next big project, freelancermap connects the right people with the right work 💪Visit https://www.freelancermap.com/ and start building your next success story today!🚀Timestamps:(00:00) Meet Edward Vanhoutte(03:42) Finding Clients Through Network(05:34) How the Market Has Changed(09:43) Capacity vs Capability Hiring(11:42) Making Freelancers Work Better(13:35) Rethinking Org Design(15:40) Why Senior Interim Still Rare(17:36) Get Ready for Blended Teams(19:51) Recruiters Challenging the Brief(22:52) Innovation vs Fixed Mindset(27:18) Designing the Ideal System(30:11) Advice for Companies and Freelancers(32:46) Evidence Based HR Resources#freelance #hiring #futureofwork

“We need to get back to hiring the person, not the paper, because a résumé doesn’t always tell you who can actually solve the problem.”In this episode, we discussed why traditional hiring is breaking down, how companies can move from simply hiring employees to orchestrating employees, independent talent and AI, and how to succeed in this new workforce, in particular:👉 Why traditional hiring processes often measure the wrong things and prevent companies from accessing great talent.👉 Why AOR and EOR providers can make working with independent talent easier and reduce compliance concerns.👉 Why HR is evolving from talent acquisition toward workforce and capacity orchestration.Join Yurii Lazaruk, an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at freelancermap, and Bryan Peña, a Founder of Defiant, a workforce strategy and intelligence firm helping companies rethink how human talent, AI, and robotics work together, who has spent over 25 years shaping an independent workforce industry (from building workforce programs to advising Global 500 companies) and now focuses on how organizations can redesign the future of work.Together, we explore the now and the future of work through the lens of temporary employment, and how companies can get the most out of such collaboration! Connect with Bryan and Yurii on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanpena/https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/Whether you’re looking to hire top freelance talent fast or are a freelancer ready to find your next big project, freelancermap connects the right people with the right work 💪Visit https://www.freelancermap.com/ and start building your next success story today!🚀Timestamps:(00:00) Meet Bryan Peña(03:17) Why Hiring Is Broken(06:20) What’s Blocking Freelancers(10:49) When to Use Freelancers(12:38) Rent vs Hire Decision(15:58) EOR and Compliance(20:52) First Steps to Blend Work(23:58) Who Owns the Program(29:07) Market Trends and Future(33:15) Resilience for Independents(34:38) Final Advice and Wrap Up#freelance #hiring #futureofwork

“Independent experts are not a backup plan. They are a faster way to access the knowledge your company does not have yet.”In this episode, we discussed why companies need to stop treating independent talent like traditional hiring and start building a new operating system for accessing expertise fast, in particular:👉 How the pandemic accelerated corporate interest in independent professionals.👉 Why business-unit ownership is often the difference between a two-week process and an eight-month delay.👉 Why AI will not remove the need for experts, but will increase the value of “last-mile expertise”.Join Yurii Lazaruk, an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at freelancermap, and Alp Sezginsoy, a Future of Work enthusiast, TEDx speaker, and founder of Expertera where he connects organizations with more than 100,000 pre-qualified, highly-skilled experts worldwide, who's passionate of building global talent pipelines while enabling new ways of working.Together, we explore the now and the future of work through the lens of temporary employment, and how companies can get the most out of such collaboration! Connect with Alp and Yurii on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/alpsezginsoy/https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/Whether you’re looking to hire top freelance talent fast or are a freelancer ready to find your next big project, freelancermap connects the right people with the right work 💪Visit https://www.freelancermap.com/ and start building your next success story today!🚀Timestamps:(00:00) Meet Alp Sezginsoy(01:09) Why Expertera Started(03:52) Big Company Blockers(08:55) Two Weeks vs Eight Months(11:40) Vetting Experts Fast(16:12) Human Layer in Matching(19:34) Future of Independent Work(22:38) Mindset Shift to Start(25:59) Advice for Freelancers and Companies#freelance #hiring #futureofwork

“Cultural relevance is not just social responsibility. It is a commercial benefit.”In this episode, we discussed how companies can better discover, trust, brief, pay, and collaborate with global talent, and why it is a commercial advantage, in particular:👉 Why discoverability, project management, and payments are the biggest infrastructure gaps in global creative hiring.👉 Why companies need to understand the commercial value of diverse and culturally relevant creative talent.👉 Why a great freelance collaboration starts with a precise brief, clear expectations, and honest communication.Join Yurii Lazaruk, an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at freelancermap, and Natalie Narh, founder and CEO of NewComma, a talent discovery platform connecting businesses with African creatives all over the world with a mission to make it easier for businesses globally to find and engage this untapped pool of creatives shaping the future of the creative economy.Together, we explore the now and the future of work through the lens of temporary employment, and how companies can get the most out of such collaboration! Connect with Natalie and Yurii on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-narh/https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/Whether you’re looking to hire top freelance talent fast or are a freelancer ready to find your next big project, freelancermap connects the right people with the right work 💪Visit https://www.freelancermap.com/ and start building your next success story today!🚀Timestamps:(00:00) Meet Natalie Narh(00:59) What NewComma Does(02:45) Payments Problem Explained(05:48) NewComma Roadmap(09:05) Discoverability Origin Story(11:48) Building the Creative Community(14:27) Culture as Commercial Edge(19:05) From Diversity to Trust(23:12) Policies That Actually Work(28:30) Vetting Talent and Better Briefs(32:51) Assistive AI Not Generative(35:00) Company Friction and Remote Ops(38:12) Why Africa Matters Now(40:46) Advice and Closing Picks#freelance #hiring #futureofwork

“You don’t need to start with 900 freelancers. Start with one project where you need expertise now.”In this episode, we discussed how can a global company work with hundreds of freelancers while maintaining quality, security, compliance, and human connection, in particular:👉 Why security, identity verification, and fraud prevention become major challenges when working with hundreds of remote freelancers.👉 How relationships with freelancers create access to trusted professionals, referrals, and future opportunities.👉 Why companies should build a reusable freelance talent pool before an urgent need appears.Join Yurii Lazaruk, an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at freelancermap, and Laura Gil Alcalde, a Business Manager and Freelancing Delivery Partner for Microsoft Product Group, who helps lead a global freelance-based customer support program involving around 900 professionals across more than 50 countries, and turned frontline insights into more than 200 product improvements while also making the program more efficient, engaged, and scalable.Together, we explore the now and the future of work through the lens of temporary employment, and how companies can get the most out of such collaboration! Connect with Laura and Yurii on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauragilalcalde/https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/Whether you’re looking to hire top freelance talent fast or are a freelancer ready to find your next big project, freelancermap connects the right people with the right work 💪Visit https://www.freelancermap.com/ and start building your next success story today!🚀Timestamps:(00:00) Meet Laura Gil(01:20) Microsoft Program Overview(02:33) Data Loop and Traceability(04:11) Security and Fraud Risks(07:01) Scaling Secure Onboarding(09:34) Why Freelancers Win(11:43) Upwork Partner Model(15:32) Finding Niche Talent(18:58) Agencies and Platform Fees(23:30) Community and Relationships(35:02) Advice For Companies and Freelancers#freelance #hiring #futureofwork

"The companies that keep waiting for the perfect hire will lose to the companies that know how to build flexible teams."In this episode, we discussed how forward-thinking companies move beyond treating freelancers as gap-fillers and instead build a flexible workforce strategy that combines employees, contractors, freelancers, and AI, in particular:👉 How to build a flexible workforce without creating chaos.👉 How freelance benches eliminate hiring friction before projects even begin.👉 What AI should (and shouldn't) do in freelancer hiring.Join Yurii Lazaruk, an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at freelancermap, and Maari Casey, the founder and CEO of Uncompany, a business she's been building for more than 15 years to help companies work smarter with independent talent, and who wants everyone around her to succeed.Together, we explore the now and the future of work through the lens of temporary employment, and how companies can get the most out of such collaboration! Connect with Maari and Yurii on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/maaricasey/https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/Whether you’re looking to hire top freelance talent fast or are a freelancer ready to find your next big project, freelancermap connects the right people with the right work 💪Visit https://www.freelancermap.com/ and start building your next success story today!🚀Timestamps:(00:00) Meet Maari Casey(02:33) From Agency to Freelance(04:42) Building a Better System(06:41) A Decade of Change(10:07) AI Matching for Talent(12:29) Human Role in Hiring(16:08) Earning Trust with Clients(20:29) Freelancer Red Flags(22:42) Justifying Freelancer Rates(25:29) Freelancers Protect Teams(27:40) Beyond Gap Fillers(29:57) Freelance Bench Concept(31:53) Proactive Onboarding Wins(34:49) Blended Workforce Strategy(36:16) Power Shift To Talent(39:20) Advice For Both Sides(43:05) Scaling With Subcontractors#freelance #hiring #futureofwork

“Start by understanding what freelancers can actually do for you.”In this episode, we discussed how companies and freelancers can build better working relationships by treating freelance collaboration as a serious business partnership, not a backup option or a cheap shortcut, in particular:👉 Why companies still struggle to trust freelancers, even when the same risks exist with full-time employees.👉 Where companies usually find exceptional freelance talent, and why networks still matter most.👉 What companies and freelancers should do now to prepare for the future of independent work.Join Yurii Lazaruk, an Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships at freelancermap, and Elina Jutelyte, a founder of Freelance Business Community and Academy who, based on 400+ conversations with freelance business owners, hosting events for over 5,000 freelance attendees and running her own freelance business, helps freelancers build their business as a system, which makes them great partners for companies to trust, collaborate and grow with.Together, we explore the now and the future of work through the lens of temporary employment, and how companies can get the most out of such collaboration! Connect with Elina and Yurii on Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/elina-jutelyte/https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurii-lazaruk-community-consultant/Whether you’re looking to hire top freelance talent fast or are a freelancer ready to find your next big project, freelancermap connects the right people with the right work 💪Visit https://www.freelancermap.com/ and start building your next success story today!🚀Timestamps:(00:00) Meet Elina Jutelyte(01:59) Going Freelance and Building Teams(03:59) Trust and Risk Concerns(05:34) Freelancers Are Too Expensive(07:59) COVID and Work Shifts(10:28) Whom to Call Independents(14:28) Freelancer Red Flags(19:44) Corporate Jargon and Bureaucracy(22:26) How Companies Should Onboard(24:18) Why Systems Still Don’t Exist(26:18) Set Feedback Expectations(27:37) Company Freelancer Misalignments(29:34) Finding Exceptional Talent(31:13) Why Networks Beat Platforms(34:31) Future of Freelancing Trends(41:40) Advice for Companies(43:34) Freelancer Branding and Proof(48:39) Why Freelance Data Lags#freelance #hiring #futureofwork