By: Greg Savage

Despite the clear economic slowdown of late, Aquent (the creative staff recruitment outfit) has seen encouraging spikes in demand for creative freelancers. Greg Savage, Aquent CEO for AsiaPacific, explains, “We use our worldwide database to track fluctuations in demand for freelancers. So far, our markets in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Auckland have followed a broadly similar pattern of spikes in business, although there have been some local differences.

“Advertising agencies have responded to a fall off in their clients’ needs by cutting permanent headcount. Corporate users of creative talent are also running very lean. In many cases when projects do emerge, businesses lack the in-house talent to service the work so they turn to freelancers as a solution.

“We have seen a small, but real, spike in demand in the third quarter of 2001 compared with second quarter. Sydney, in particular, has started to hire print production and design talent, but we have also seen some movement in Brisbane and Melbourne. For example, in Sydney we have actually been short of high-end brand specialists to assist our clients, and specialist packaging design professionals have also been keenly sought.”

The Aquent research also highlights spikes in demand in other commercial areas. Brisbane has experienced shortages of freelancers with up-to-date technological skills, such as XML, while there’s been a moderate demand in Melbourne from corporate clients for Macintosh operators with PageMaker skills.

“Despite staffing restrictions, our clients are still using freelancers in innovative and creative ways,” explains Savage. “Advertising agencies still call in expert talent to prepare for pitches and there is also contract design work for intranets and extranets. In Brisbane, we have had regular requests for talent to work on brochures, annual reports, packaging and presentation displays. Melbourne has had similar demands, but we have also seen some rebranding work which most freelancers really enjoy.”

That call is about to come.