Freelance consultants at a meeting

Freelance
Recruitment

Register project

At Hays recruitment agency, we have more than 50 years of experience in matching the right candidate with the right job. We daily place freelance consultants in interim and project-based positions - no matter if you are experiencing unanticipated demand, an employee is on maternity- or sick leave or if you need a temporary specialist expertise for an exciting project, we know the right candidate.

We provide an extensive support for companies which are looking for external consultants within our specialisms. These include areas such as IT, Life Sciences and Engineering. Our recruitment consultants have a strong network and we have more than 11.000 contractors in our database. We have tailored processes, which ensure a quick and effective recruitment process. This means that we can present relevant freelancers for your position within 48 hours.

Our recruitment consultants will help you with the entire hiring process from A-Z, including the administrative part. We can also offer other services, such as complete workforce solutions or permanent recruitment and headhunting.

Our expert knowledge is the foundation for our consultants. Yearly, Hays publish reports such as the Global Skills Index or What Workers Want - and in 2023, we launched our first report on the Danish freelance market! This helps us understand both the global and local labour markets, including which competencies and skills are particularly attractive and in demand within your industry. This means that we can find the very best freelance consultants to fill a possible skill gap.
 

Did you read our Freelance Market Report 2023 yet?

NEWS: Hays is a SKI-supplier for the new 02.14 agreement for IT consulting services.

FREELANCE CONSULTANTS
HIGHLY QUALIFIED, PLUG-AND-PLAY

Industry experience; an international network; strong processes and deep knowledge of the freelance- and labour market. Hays is your partner in anything workforce related.

OUR PROCESS FOR FREELANCE RECRUITMENT

1. STARTING A PROJECT

 You register a new project with Hays
 We perform a detailed analysis of your needs
► We draft a requirement profile

2. CANDIDATE SEARCH

 We look for qualified and suitable freelancers in our database and network – and beyond, if necessary
 Evaluation of professional and personal qualifications

3. PROJECT BRIEF & PRESENTATION

 We brief potential freelancers on the project
 We select the 2-3 most appropriate candidates
► Short-list sent to the hiring manager

4. INTERVIEW, FEEDBACK & CONTRACT

 Evaluation of CVs and feedback from the hiring manager
 Interviews with selected candidates
 Evaluation of interviews and feedback
 Contract is signed – or a new search is performed
 

faq
Often asked questions about working with freelancers

A freelancer is an independent specialist, who is contracted by an organisation for a limited period of time. With a freelancer you buy their time, as if it was any other commodity – this means, that you don't pay their salary (or pension, insurance, vacation, etc.), but an invoice. 

You will find freelance consultants within most trades and industries, but typically, it'll be specialists within areas such as programming, marketing, accountancy, etc. 

A freelancer is also frequently called a consultant or contracter (since the work is done on the basis of a contract). A freelancer differs from a temporary employee, as they are self-employed rather than employed by a temp agency. 

A freelancer is an independent specialist, who is contracted by an organisation for a limited period of time. With a freelancer you buy their time, as if it was any other commodity – this means, that you don't pay their salary (or pension, insurance, vacation, etc.), but an invoice. 

You will find freelance consultants within most trades and industries, but typically, it'll be specialists within areas such as programming, marketing, accountancy, etc. 

A freelancer is also frequently called a consultant or contracter (since the work is done on the basis of a contract). A freelancer differs from a temporary employee, as they are self-employed rather than employed by a temp agency. 


A freelancer is not always the right choice for your company, but the benefits are plenty: 

  1. Access to specialist knowledge and expertise
    With a freelancer you pay for expertise and niche knowledge, which can be difficult to get from a permanent employee – or which would require comprehensive training and education. A freelancer usually has experience from a long range of industries and invest a lot of their time in learning and technology. 
     
  2. More flexibility and scalability
    In economically uncertain times, you will often need to make quick and effective decisions. With a freelancer, you'll get the flexibility to quickly reach to changed market conditions and fluctuating demand. Additionally, the recruitment proces if often significantly faster (sometimes less than 24 hours!) and the value is nearly instantaneous. 
     
  3. Cost effectiveness
    Even though freelancers are expensive at a glance, you're essentially buying the expertise you need for a limited period of time. This way, you can quickly scale up and down, while saving the costs of a permanent hire: Pension, insurance, sickness, holiday pay, education, etc. 
     
  4. Risk management
    The value of a permanent employee with product-, process- and organisational knowledge is invaluable. But it's also risky to put all of your eggs in the same basket. Because when an organisation implements a hiring freeze or layoffs, it'll often create some uncertainty with the remaining workforce – this can largely be avoided by responding to increased demand with contingent workforce. Additionally, there's a lot of cost associated with a fluctuating headcount: Severance pay, loss of knowledge, expensive recruitment- and onboarding processes, and demotivated colleagues. 

If you want to read more benefits from using freelancers, as well as why some of the largest companies in Denmark uses them, you can download our Freelance Market Report 2023. 

A freelancer is not always the right choice for your company, but the benefits are plenty: 

  1. Access to specialist knowledge and expertise
    With a freelancer you pay for expertise and niche knowledge, which can be difficult to get from a permanent employee – or which would require comprehensive training and education. A freelancer usually has experience from a long range of industries and invest a lot of their time in learning and technology. 
     
  2. More flexibility and scalability
    In economically uncertain times, you will often need to make quick and effective decisions. With a freelancer, you'll get the flexibility to quickly reach to changed market conditions and fluctuating demand. Additionally, the recruitment proces if often significantly faster (sometimes less than 24 hours!) and the value is nearly instantaneous. 
     
  3. Cost effectiveness
    Even though freelancers are expensive at a glance, you're essentially buying the expertise you need for a limited period of time. This way, you can quickly scale up and down, while saving the costs of a permanent hire: Pension, insurance, sickness, holiday pay, education, etc. 
     
  4. Risk management
    The value of a permanent employee with product-, process- and organisational knowledge is invaluable. But it's also risky to put all of your eggs in the same basket. Because when an organisation implements a hiring freeze or layoffs, it'll often create some uncertainty with the remaining workforce – this can largely be avoided by responding to increased demand with contingent workforce. Additionally, there's a lot of cost associated with a fluctuating headcount: Severance pay, loss of knowledge, expensive recruitment- and onboarding processes, and demotivated colleagues. 

If you want to read more benefits from using freelancers, as well as why some of the largest companies in Denmark uses them, you can download our Freelance Market Report 2023. 


It's a great question –  when is the cost of an agency justified? Isn't it cheaper to find them yourselves?

And the answer is yes, in some instances it is the best solution to do it yourself. For example, if you already have the right freelancer in your network, you only need a limited amount of hours or the need is very short-term. However, if you consistenly use freelancers for your projects; if you use freelancers as part of the strategy to scale your business; if you have a hard time finding the right candidates; or if you have a large amount of freelancers within your organisation across departments, we would advice you to use an agency for parts of or the entire process. 

Because the amount of administration required can be overwhelming, and many organisations have a poor insight into the amount of resources they actually spend on contingent workforce – it's a lot more than just paying the freelancers' invoices. And here's where a recruitment agency comes in. We can help you establish good processes for onboarding, administrative tasks, compliance and contract negotiation, as well as help you find the best freelancers for the task or project.

It's a great question –  when is the cost of an agency justified? Isn't it cheaper to find them yourselves?

And the answer is yes, in some instances it is the best solution to do it yourself. For example, if you already have the right freelancer in your network, you only need a limited amount of hours or the need is very short-term. However, if you consistenly use freelancers for your projects; if you use freelancers as part of the strategy to scale your business; if you have a hard time finding the right candidates; or if you have a large amount of freelancers within your organisation across departments, we would advice you to use an agency for parts of or the entire process. 

Because the amount of administration required can be overwhelming, and many organisations have a poor insight into the amount of resources they actually spend on contingent workforce – it's a lot more than just paying the freelancers' invoices. And here's where a recruitment agency comes in. We can help you establish good processes for onboarding, administrative tasks, compliance and contract negotiation, as well as help you find the best freelancers for the task or project.


You can find freelancers within almost all professions and industries, but there's of course areas where contingent workforce is utilised more often. The creative professions have historically had a large amount of freelancers, but today we see particularly many candidates within IT, Engineering and Finance who choose to become independent contractors after many years of experience in permanent positions. And this is also where Hays operate – we work with highly specialised profiles with many years of experience; experts within their profession. 

You can find freelancers within almost all professions and industries, but there's of course areas where contingent workforce is utilised more often. The creative professions have historically had a large amount of freelancers, but today we see particularly many candidates within IT, Engineering and Finance who choose to become independent contractors after many years of experience in permanent positions. And this is also where Hays operate – we work with highly specialised profiles with many years of experience; experts within their profession. 


Yes, in case of mutual agreement between you and the freelancer. Contact your Hays consultant to learn more about the conditions in your specific situation.

Yes, in case of mutual agreement between you and the freelancer. Contact your Hays consultant to learn more about the conditions in your specific situation.


YOUR CONTACT PERSON FOR FREELANCERS

Charlotte Thomassen

    Head of Contracting

    Kongens Nytorv 8, 1050 Copenhagen C