We've had a busy three months. Looking back over Q2, the briefs kept landing, there was a higher demand for freelance talent and more of our work crossed international borders. A few patterns really stood out.
The biggest change this quarter is in the type of clients we’ve seen reaching out. We’re getting more briefs from consumer, lifestyle and B2C brands, especially in design, interiors and property. These are businesses that live and die by their image, so it makes sense they’d want freelancers who can move quickly and bring ideas – and that perfectly suits the way we work.
Web design and social support have been in heavy demand. Clients want help refreshing websites, building landing pages and keeping their channels ticking over, often at short notice. We've also had a few former clients return to our door for freelance support after a while away. That tends to be a good sign. When clients come back, it usually means we got it right the first time. Repeat business is the best feedback we ever get.
Events keep coming up in conversation. The pattern is a familiar one: a date goes in the diary, the project grows exponentially and the team realises it needs more hands on deck. We've seen it with conferences, awards, product launches and festivals.
Most teams are built for the day job, not the intense spike an event brings. Usually, the crunch lasts a few weeks and then things settle again so hiring permanently for a short burst rarely adds up in terms of either budget or headcount. Bringing in high-quality interim support in the run-up, then winding it down afterwards, makes much more sense.
Fractional demand is holding up. Businesses want senior expertise without the full-time salary. Interim is busy too and increasingly it's a deliberate choice rather than a case of ripping the emergency cord. The old reasons still remain - maternity cover, a sudden departure, the odd crisis - but plenty of companies now reach for interim as a sensible and strategic short-term play. It keeps headcount and budgets in check, people can start quickly and it gives businesses room to move when the economy continues to feel uncertain.
We’ve also seen that fixed-term contracts may just be creeping back. A handful of clients asked about them this quarter, drawn to the clear structure and a definite end-date. We're not calling it a trend yet but we're certainly keeping an eye on it.
International work keeps building. Germany and the US stood out this quarter, with more clients hiring across borders rather than sticking to one market. They want people who genuinely understand the local context, not just anyone who has worked abroad. We expect that to carry on through the year and beyond.
It’s notoriously hard to predict our market more than a few weeks ahead, given the pace at which things move, but the direction seems steady. The businesses that benefit most are those that know when to bring in outside help, act quickly when they find the right person and stay open to options beyond permanent hires.
We won't pretend to see too far ahead but right now the work is there and we like what we are seeing.