Attitudes in Action: How Managers Perceive and Position Freelancers in the Modern Workplace

In recent years, significant changes have occurred in the workforce regarding types of employment, and the traditional contract between employees and employers has evolved into various forms, including those of freelancers, whose contractual arrangements differ from those of traditionally employed salaried employees. We conducted a study that examined questions related to managers' perceptions of the freelancer trend and their willingness to recommend freelancers. To this end, we distinguished between various organizational positions. A quantitative study was conducted in which participants completed an online survey we developed. The survey measures the freelancers’ demographic and employability characteristics and their economic added value. The current study included 465 participants who were recruited by the PROLIFIC platform (https://www.prolific.co/), a service offering online recruitment of respondents. Three separate two-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) tests were conducted, each with two dependent variables. The independent variables included attitudes toward the employment of freelancers (more employees than freelancers, equal numbers of employees and freelancers, and more freelancers than employees), as well as economic considerations regarding payments to freelancers (freelancers paid less than employees, paid equally, or paid more). These were categorized by three roles: managerial, core professional, and routine operations, with age serving as a covariate. Summary of the findings indicates that for the three roles examined, a significant main effect was found for the independent variable attitudes for the dependent variable perception of the freelancer trend. However, a significant main effect for the independent variable in attitudes on the dependent variable willingness to recommend freelancers was found only for the core professional and routine operations roles but not for the managerial role. Due to the novelty of this subject, our pioneer research discloses sizeable theoretical and practical implications that advance academic knowledge and significantly benefit organizations.