Outsourcing

In business, outsourcing is an agreement in which one company contracts its own internal activity to different company.

Outsourcing includes both foreign and domestic contracting.

Reasons for outsourcing

Companies primarily outsource to reduce certain costs, high taxes, high energy costs, social security, Medicare, safety protection, excessive government regulation or mandates, and production or labor costs.

Digital outsourcing

The digital workforce of countries like India and China are only paid a fraction of what would be minimum wage in the US offers outsourcing workers the flexibility to choose their working hours, and which companies to work for. With many individuals telecommuting from home, the companies that require this type of work do not need to allocate additional funds for setting up of office space, management salary, and employee benefits as these individuals are contracted workers.

Freelancer

A freelancer or freelance worker is a term commonly used for a person who is self-employed and is not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term.

Freelance practices and compensation

According to the 2012 Freelance Industry Report; nearly half of freelancers do writing work, with 18% of freelancers listing writing as a primary skill, 10% editing/copy-editing, and 10% as copy-writing. 20% of freelancers listed their primary skills as design. Next on the list were translating (8%), web development (5.5%), and marketing (4%).

Benefits

Freelancers have a variety of reasons for freelancing, the perceived benefits differ by gender, industry, and lifestyle. For instance, the 2012 Freelance Industry Report reported that men and women freelance for different reasons. Female survey respondents indicated that they prefer the scheduling freedom and flexibility that freelancing offers, while male survey respondents indicated they freelance to follow or pursue personal passions.

Most Popular Freelance Marketplaces

Upwork

99designs

Fiverr

Freelancer

Guru

PeoplePerHour