Niche expertise and flexibility are necessary in today’s fast-moving labour market. Professionals are embracing freelancing to escape stagnant roles and gain control over their careers. Freelancing is no longer a last resort solution for companies, it’s a smart way to stay agile and competitive. And for employees it's no longer a plan B, but it’s a forward-thinking career move.
of professionals currently work as freelancers
of employers plan to hire freelancers in 2026
Our 2024 Salary Guide survey showed that AI was still far from mainstream (80% of employees didn’t use it and 93% hadn’t received any training, despite 71% wanting to learn). Fast forward to 2026 and the landscape is slowly shifting: 60% of professionals now use AI tools. Yet, 40% still don’t see the benefit and 25% lack the understanding or support to use AI effectively.
Technical expertise opens doors, but soft skills are what make your career move forward, our 2026 Salary Guide makes that very clear. Professionals are investing in soft skills to stand out and move up. The future of work requires more than knowledge, it requires empathy, leadership and communication skills.
Discover key labour market trends by sector, salaries for hundreds of roles and recruitment dynamics for 2026. Our guide provides insights using not only the experience and the knowledge of our consultants, but also the vision and expectations of more than 550 qualified professionals who participated in our survey.
