The Midland's business community is planning to hire freelancers and remote workers in an effort to increase headcount whilst remaining flexible and rapidly scalable in an uncertain market. This is the finding of the latest Business Tracker report from Regus, the world's largest provider of flexible workplaces, which has business centres across the Midlands. The report is based on a nationwide survey of 2700 companies and also revealed that two fifth's (38%) of local companies plan to recruit freelance staff in the next year and 29% of those firms planning to hire permanent staff will opt for remote workers.

However business confidence in Midlands has slipped 23 points since April to stand at 84 in Regus' national Business Confidence Index -  below the UK average of 87. Sliding business confidence is matched by a dip in the number of firms reporting revenue and profits rises. Back in April, 53% of Midland's businesses had chalked up revenue rises over the previous six months and 50% had increased their profits. However, in this latest edition of the Business Tracker the proportion of firms reporting revenues and profits rises has fallen significantly (42% and 40% respectively.)

Nationally, companies that trade with overseas markets are performing noticeably better in each of the report's indicators than those solely focused on the domestic market.  

Greg Lunn, Regional Director at Regus, comments: "The Regus Business Tracker illustrates the recent reversal in the national economic outlook and its impact on local business, especially the fact that optimism has taken such a sharp downturn since April. Despite this, local firms realize that they must continue investing in growth, so freelance and remote working are becoming increasingly popular solutions to increase headcount whilst remaining agile and scalable. 27% of the employed population in the UK are now deemed to be flexible workers,[1] which illustrates the significant shift that has already taken place in the employment market.

"Local firms only operating in the national market should take note that they are being outperformed by those targeting overseas markets. It is now possible for even very small operations to establish a low-risk presence in overseas markets without making lengthy premises or equipment commitments and allowing them to expand or withdraw depending on market conditions."