More Free Agents in the Philippines?

An article this week in HumanResources highlights the growing interest in freelancing among Filipino millennials. This creates a potential problem for business leaders in the Philippines, if the best and brightest people want to leave the corporate world and work for themselves, but it also creates some great opportunities for companies in the Philippines and beyond. Many of these freelancers are taking on international clients, so there’s a chance for employers around Asia (and anywhere, really) to tap into some great talent. You will find some really strong advantages to working with free agents like these.

First, you only pay them when you need them. It’s true that their hourly rate may be more than you pay your full-time employees, but depending on the work you have them doing, they may be working fewer hours than your full-timers. Also, you aren’t paying for health care, retirement, holidays and annual leave, or employee development — all of those costs are on their shoulders, not yours. You also can end up needing less office space if your free agents work remotely, so your basic infrastructure costs drop, too.

Second, successful free agents are proactive and resilient. If they don’t have those qualities, they are not going to be successful freelancers, and they will go back to the corporate life where someone else takes responsibility. But if they ARE successful, and DO have those qualities, then that’s great for you. If someone is able to face the uncertainty that comes with freelancing, and is tough enough to work through that uncertainty and create solutions to all the challenges out there, then they’ll bring that personality to the work they do for you.

Finally, you can build the team you need for a project, rather than just accepting the team that you have. When you are building a team for a project, looking to freelancers broadens your talent choices. This is especially important if you’re trying something new and don’t have the right skills among your current employees, or if you are moving into a new market and don’t have anyone with expertise there. rather than making do with what you have, you can create a project team with the skills you need and improve your performance.

None of this is to say that working with free agents comes without costs. There are advantages to having full-time staff that you will miss out on, such as the corporate knowledge and internal networks that develop when people work together regularly. What you need to figure out is exactly what those advantages are in your case, and then determine if their loss is outweighed by the benefits of using freelancers. You have the chance to boost your performance while reducing your costs, so at least explore the possibility of doing more with free agents.