European Business Magazine caught up with Vincent Huguet

The co-founder and co-CEO of the leading European freelance marketplace, Malt. We spoke to him about launching a business in new territories, the growth of the freelance market and how the perception of freelancing has changed over the last 10 years.

move to London is just one example. We’ve also had to adapt to different rules and regulations that we haven’t experienced in other markets. IR35 is an obvious one but we’ve also modified our product so that clients can pay in pounds and freelancers can be paid in pounds because all of our business transactions were in euros previously.

But, we’re thrilled that our community of freelancers and independent consultants has already grown to over 13,000 in the UK. We’ve also found M&A to be a definite accelerator for Malt and it’s something we might consider more of in the UK.

What are your biggest learnings from expanding into new territories?

We’ve found that there is a clear upward trend in freelancing in every market, but that market dynamics can differ hugely from one country to another, with independent workers receiving different levels of support depending on the market they reside in and work in. For Malt, this means legal and financial adaptations to fit each market.

Having a team in each market with local experts has been a key learning as every market is different and challenging to understand. It also means we’re able to focus on accessing local talent which has been crucial to our success. When we acquired Comatch last year, it meant we also got a team of 10 people in London with 5 years of experience, which has helped with our progress there.

Alongside this, every country’s culture is very different so one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced as we expand into new territories is an internal one: what is global and what should be owned at a local level, whether it’s internal policies, marketing campaigns or product adaptations. And clear learning has been how to adapt to a team’s country culture while keeping the same company culture threaded through all of our teams and markets, to have maximum impact as one organisation. As we’ve launched in new markets, we’ve been able to grow our offering to corporate clients by supporting them in more of the markets where they have a presence. And we’ve been fortunate to give our team members opportunities to move from one country to another and take their learnings from one country to the next.

How much of a factor do you think the move to hybrid and remote working since the pandemic has influenced the growth of the freelancing market?

Not only has Covid changed how people work in offices, but they are considering different options and we’re seeing an acceleration in the number of people choosing to freelance rather than work in full-time employment. We’ve seen a 39% year-on-year growth.

As a consequence, companies have had to adapt to find the talent they need, with many organisations more open to hiring consultants and freelancers to work on short-term and medium-term projects and strategies. I believe the future of work is hybrid, not 100% remote, but at least now companies are comfortable working with someone who lives further away

- say Manchester or even Brusselsand can go to the office in London for a few days each month to work with the rest of the team. This means organisations rely more on freelancers who can work flexibly to support business needs. Before the pandemic, that was rarely considered.

When you founded Malt ten years ago, did you envisage freelancing would become the popular career choice that it has become today? How has the perception of freelancing changed over time?

When we founded Malt, we knew there was a wave forming towards freelancing that largely went unnoticed. There was a huge opportunity for us to support more people in their freelancing careers, by offering visibility to clients, payment security and helping them build their reputation as a freelancer.

Having said that, we could never have predicted Covid and how it was a huge accelerator of independent work becoming such a popular career choice, with flexibility now at the top of many workers’ agenda. A mixture of the pandemic, digital transformation and the current economic recession have made many people question their careers and try their hand at freelancing.

How have attitudes in companies hiring freelancers changed over time and do you think this is driven at the board level or further down the funnel?

There is definitely a challenge that comes with changing outdated ways of working to encourage business leaders that freelancers can really support their needs and excel in their growth. Mid managers can sometimes be reluctant to change, but a new generation of managers who want to play a part in digital transformation enjoy having more choice over who they work with to support their business needs. However, the number one priority for CEOs and the board is access to talent, even in times of uncertainty or recession. The war for talent continues to grow and businesses are more focused on short-term projects to weather the unpredictability, so more employers are open to hiring freelancers and consultants than ever before. Organisations are looking to optimise efficiencies which in turn means there’s more scope to hire short-term expertise rather than permanent roles, and there’s a wider acceptance now that freelancers can fill gaps in skills and expertise. At Malt, we’ve worked with over 60,000 organisations in Europe that now rely on freelancers to fulfil their business needs and we only expect this to continue growing.