In December 2023, the Freelance Jungle Patreons gathered to talk about our Australian freelance predictions for 2024 and say goodbye to 2023. The following video recording and the blog is that summation of that.
It’s become increasingly clear that to freelance effectively in Australia, we cannot live in a bubble that focusses on personal achievement, income goals, and business as usual. The world-changing events also impact us, in both big and small ways. They shake consumer and client confidence, create issues and opportunities, and demand a strategic focus. As freelancers, we frequently find ourselves without the protections afforded to standard business operations. This is especially obvious when the economy is changing or when there’s a natural disaster.
This year, instead of individually talking about how we all did in freelancing, the Freelance Jungle Patreon supporters got together to discuss the year in terms of politics and different industries.
You can watch the action replay of the 2023 Freelance Jungle Wrap party and Australian freelance predictions for 2024 now
In this action replay, we discussed the impact of:
- Sydney World Pride 2023
- The failure of the Voice to Parliament
- Natural Disasters – hottest year on record, flash flooding, drought, changes to seasonal patterns
- Inflation
- Covid but not Covid (i.e. living with Covid without access to Jobkeeper etc)
- Housing sector issues such as affordability, low supply in rental market, etc
- Voluntary Assisted Dying
- More usage of forensic accounting
- Barbiecore
- NDIS review
Freelance Future Talk: What’s on the horizon for 2024
Examining freelancing impacts in Australia, highlighting what clients will face include:
- Changes to SEO
- Rise of AI
- Inflation
- Natural disasters and environmental impacts
- Labour shortages – COL etc
- Talent acquisition, retention and re/upskilling staff to meet a more digitised future
- Digital transformation and optimisation, and extracting organisational value from it
- Cyber threats and risks including hacks, security etc
- Compliance, regulation, reporting
- Waning consumer confidence
- Adaptability and agility expectations
- Impaired cash flow through later payments and stricter lending
- Increased labour costs
- Managing growth in recession circumstances
- Interest rate rises
- Changes to taxation – increased debt, lower write offs, fewer tax refunds
- Attracting customers – keeping up with targeting and marketing
- Less time and headspace for networking, supplier acquisition etc
- Lower employee loyalty
- Automating processes
- Energy prices
- Currency volatility
- Greater CSR pressures – diversity and inclusion, environmental, social
- Creating new products and services
- Expanding markets – internationally and domestically
What client sectors will be hot?
These are the markets that are predicted to take off in 2024. Freelancers who can meet the need have a great chance here. Especially if you’re experienced in these sectors.
- Healthcare
- Renewables – and with it, construction, engineering, and energy services
- Technology – especially security (and hacking related fields), AI and machine learning
- Tourism
- Education and training
- Car market – second-hand (already hot) and new (predicted)
Rebekah’s additional picks
Some things freelancers can focus on to navigate the challenges include increased compliance in certain sectors, the growing number of older adults, and changes in budget and cultural trends:
- Ageing in place – means staying at home for as long as possible, instead of going to aged care. This continued shift away from formal aged care influences in-home care, health services, social welfare, financial literacy, retirement funding, mental health, real estate, construction – especially in accessibility and the tiny house market, and the aged care sector generally (overcoming objections to institutional care through to explaining new ways forward)
- Accessibility – is in high demand online and offline because of the disability and aging communities. It’s also driven by government policy and the Disability Pride movement. Get on board on get left behind!
- Mental health – with greater uncertainty in climate change, Australia’s economy, and employment instability coupled with a comedown after the last five years of survival mode, mental health will need specific attention.
- Trauma informed content – is a hot topic in the USA and UK. And it presents an opportunity soon in Australia through a greater interest in trauma-informed content by communications, community, education and marketing specialists
- DIY marketing – is becoming more popular as clients need to save money but still want to promote their business. If you can adapt your content to DIY and offer support to struggling businesses, you’ll notice work and trust increase
- Death literacy – say what you want about the Boomers, but they know what they want. They and their Gen X and late Millennial kids will keep the interest in dying well alive (as we should!).
- Gen Xers – are reaching mid-life crisis stages while taking on more responsibility as the leader generation. It’s our politics and reclaiming our youth that’ll pave the way. Brace yourself for a major throwback with lots of 90s and 00s revival tours, and a rebellious vibe when it comes to life, maturity, and aging (in my opinion, at least)
- Zoomer creativity – this group is all about absurdist comedy, they say what they need to in 7-second vids, and they’re breaking away from traditional goals because they think the whole sustainability and capitalist culture thing is a total joke. Get ready for some weirdness!
Volatile / Crisistunity markets
The culture will push for changes, and Labor will pull many sectors into better oversight and compliance. If you’re good at crisis communications, can handle change, and thrive in high-pressure environments, you’ll find work in:
- Aged Care (especially with the final stages of the Royal Commission findings taking forever to be put into action)
- Finance
- Regulation and Compliance (especially in construction, health, accessibility etc)
- Construction / Real estate
- Housing / housing affordability
- With changes in international student targets, universities will likely need communication assets to assist them in pivoting their revenue streams.
- Migration – decreases the number of new small businesses and directly influences the sector and community that will come later in 2024 and early 2025
Tough times ahead
Certain freelancers will face even more belt tightening, client loss, and difficult pivots due to low discretionary spending. This will have a significant impact on client sectors, especially:
- Hospitality
- The Arts
- Travel
- Retail
Big changes/ loads of flux
Outside of the big changes pushed by economics, compliance, search and marketing, we will likely see a lot of change and instability in:
Social media
Late-stage platforms may fail to influence behaviour due to laggard adoption, leading to doubts about their validity. X/Twitter and Facebook are both declining.
Instagram’s decline is problematic but less dramatic. The platform wants to move away from the talking head style culture of the past. What that looks like on an algorithm level is yet to be seen. Video remains their primary focus. That plus the Zoomer absurdist bent may even see a less business, more playful, creative vibe.
To stay ahead, LinkedIn must tackle scams and spam. People are likely to shift away from self-promotion as it’s already showing signs of wearing thin. Helpful content clients feel empowered to action will boom. Over-posters and feed flooders will continue to be discouraged on the platform, as most lurkers (which is most of LinkedIn) find their constant posting off-putting. Freelancers that learn to balance the needs of their clients instead of playing to their peers will do well in 2024.
Short-term accommodation market
Legislation aimed at tackling the affordability and rental crisis is prompting local councils to push houses out of AirBnb and back into the housing supply. However, they are struggling with extended construction periods and obstacles related to building, causing a decrease in trust in developers and builders. As a result, it appears to be more of a temporary solution rather than an effective remedy.
Superannuation
Compliance, education and greater understanding of superannuation in the freelance market will influence what we need to learn as well as potential products and startups that will appear. Time to get your finance nerd on, folks!
AI and ML impacts
Is this a make or break moment? Who can say? What we do know is the influence of AI and ML on freelance work is significant.
AI rise shows similarities to offshore rent-a-code and eBidding websites from fifteen years ago. Taking that as an example, getting angry at its existence and shirty at freelancers or clients who use it isn’t productive.
What will save freelancers heartache is learning where AI fits into the market and leveraging that to our advantage.
To do that, freelancers will need to get better at:
- Getting a handle on AI technology. Ignoring it is not sustainable
- Making a case for your expertise compared to AI
- Educating clients about AI limitations and disadvantages
- Removing the personal affront from the discussion
- Saving client projects from AI and ML disasters
- Collectivism re: regulation, best practice, usage
AI is here to stay. But like any major change, what matters is how you respond.
The work from home changes
Aussie politics are influenced by real estate, unfortunately. And that adds more pressure on all levels of government (who receive their donations) trying to influence where we work. Freelancers are already dealing with extra admin and reporting for our work hours and taxes, and the changes to claims and costs. As more businesses push their employees back to the office in 2024, freelancers will likely face the same expectations from our clients. Coworking spaces might not be as easy for freelancers to find on a casual basis as more workplaces switch to hot desking.
Startup
When times are hard, funding becomes limited. Even well-established startups can have a tough time getting funding and tightening budgets. Get ready to bat back more requests for equity instead of cash and pleas for low rates with desperate founders saying “my amazing idea needs your help.”
Making a case for your freelance services or offering DIY marketing services and products are your best option here.
What will freelancers need to be good at?
With a challenging economic year ahead, it pays to get good at:
- Lowering scope over lowering prices
- Wearing multiple hats to get the jobs
- Teaming up with other freelancers to head off the large marketing agencies
- Listening to experts in accounting, legislation, super etc
Tip from Holly Shoebridge from Oceans Accounting and Advisory
2024 is the year of cash flow management. Settings aside funds for income tax, GST, reserves, avoiding expenditure on anything unless it’s absolutely necessary, no spending for the sake of a tax deduction. Pay debts down before spending big on other items. Implement strict payment terms, deposits up front before commencing bigger jobs, stop work if payment is not being made on time. I think we’re in for another year of proverbial “belt tightening” across the board, so stay on the front foot where possible.
Want to know more? Check out this and great tips from other attendees of the session with the replay.