SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kalo, the leading platform for managing and paying freelancers, today released the results of its inaugural Best Companies To Freelance For Awards. Airbnb was named the best U.S. company for freelancers, with Amazon, Walmart, Google, and IDEO rounding out the top five. The 2018 Awards were chosen by surveying over 1,200 freelancers and analyzing interactions between over 70,000 freelancers and 2,000 companies.
The survey also reveals the top four factors freelancers use to determine whether a company is a good place to commit freelance work. Most importantly, freelancers value companies that communicate effectively, such as providing a clear brief and giving continuous feedback. Second, freelancers expect the company to issue payment on time. Third, freelancers want their skills to be utilized effectively. Finally, freelancers want to feel included as part of the core team rather than being treated as an outsider or after-thought.
Cristian Mormoloc, a professional photographer for the last decade whose freelance work includes Airbnb, said: “Airbnb is the best company I've ever freelanced for. They make me feel valued by giving constant feedback and appreciation, and I’m truly honored when they solicit my skills for other parts of the business in addition to the real estate photography I was hired for. Payments have always been prompt and without complications, and at no point have I ever needed to bring this topic up for discussion, which is rarer than you might think.”
With an estimated 53 million freelancers in the U.S. and expectations that freelancers will make up half of the professional workforce by 2020, this population is becoming an increasingly important segment for companies looking to maximize the output of their workers. And since the freelancers surveyed each worked with an average of 9 companies – sometimes returning to freelance with a company multiple times – freelancer treatment matters for companies looking to attract and entice back the best of that talent.
Apartment Therapy, number 8 on the list, is one example of this. “We take pride in taking care of our freelance writers and contributors,” says Lauren Orkus, director of operations at Apartment Therapy. “Their pictures are on our website along with our teams. There’s a lot of value in freelance work – it helps freelancers be more creative when they get to work with a lot of different companies, and frankly it helps us too.”
“There is an increasing level of work and value being collected by freelancers, but traditional best workplace awards don’t capture the working criteria that matters to this community versus full-time employees,” says Peter Johnston, Chief Executive Officer at Kalo. “Things like on-time payments, inclusion in the wider team, and good communication to build trust between both parties clearly matter to freelancers who recognize and appreciate the top companies for doing those things well. It’s exciting to see so many companies invest in being ‘freelance friendly’ in order to attract the best talent and encourage the strongest output, and we hope these findings can help others looking to draw the most of the increasingly important freelancer workforce.”
The top ten Best Companies To Freelance For in 2018 are:
1. Airbnb
2. Amazon
3. Walmart
4. Google
5. IDEO
6.
Vice
7. Apple
8. Apartment Therapy
9. Group Nine Media
10.
McDonalds
For the full list and methodology, visit https://kalobest.com/.
About Kalo
Kalo is the leading platform for managing and paying freelancers, empowering the world’s most creative companies to scale and get the most out of their freelance workforce. Kalo enables large companies to manage more than 70,000 freelancers around the world. Headquartered in San Francisco, Kalo is backed by PayPal co-founders Peter Thiel and Max Levchin through SciFi VC, as well as Goldcrest Capital, Kindred Capital and Glynn Capital.
