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#77: Looming Recession, Forrester Talent Marketplace Report, Maslow's Human Cloud Hierarchy
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#77: Looming Recession, Forrester Talent Marketplace Report, Maslow's Human Cloud Hierarchy

Layoffs, hiring freezes, and increased inflation...what does this mean for you as a leader? It means doubling your usage of contractors, prioritizing outcomes, and leaning into digital.

Matthew Mottola's avatar
Matthew Mottola
May 28, 2022
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The Human Cloud
The Human Cloud
#77: Looming Recession, Forrester Talent Marketplace Report, Maslow's Human Cloud Hierarchy
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Leaders, our hearts are with Texas. We’re torn between wtf and holding our children tight.

Matt and I are extremely torn about posting this, but after learning more, as a society we need to fight for sustainable careers so that we can be good mothers, fathers, and community members. Issues like this expand much further than our little space, but if done right our space can enable every individual a pathways to financial opportunity.


🚨 Forrester releases their freelance talent marketplace landscape - get it FREE through Vicoland

Some important call outs from their report:

  • “Freelancers are a valuable addition to your digital workforce, particularly for the specialty skills you need in software, data, content, and strategy”.

  • The freelance economy is an emerging market, with “hundreds of freelance talent marketplaces covering the waterfront of skills of every kind”.

  • Hiring a freelancer is still years off from the experience of calling an Uber. The primary challenge is “integration into enterprise hiring and sourcing systems”.

    • Check out Jason Posel and David Obadia’s leader portal’s for more

WTBFD 1: Deeper than any insights, when major research institutions invest in our space, it means we’re well on our way to becoming the norm.

WTBFD 2: Statista’s number of freelancers report is another great data point 👇👇👇

🙋‍♀️ Don’t stop at the report…join 100+ of your peers to deep dive with the recognized marketplaces in the report…Sign Up NOW!

and giving away 5 FREE books!!

🤔 Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Freelancer Needs, WDYT?

*Context: I’ve personally freelanced for 10+ years and helped manage/hire over 1,000 freelancers globally. At Venture L we spent 2+ years in the trenches scaling their career from chaotic and reactive to sustainable and predictable.

What do you think?

*A good reference point is Jon Younger’s leader portal HERE


Important Updates

Have questions? Join our paid leader portal and we’ll respond within 48 hours.

🤯 Economic Meltdown…smells like recession

  • 🚩 Hiring Freezes

  • 🚩 Layoffs

  • 🚩 Stocks

  • WTBFD: For leaders, it’s not looking good. Yet as Jason Posel said, the recession will double the usage of contractors.

  • WTBFD: For individuals, you NEED multiple points of opportunity. In Freelancing, this inherently happens through a diversified set of opportunities. If you’re an employee today, dip your toes into freelancing after work.

    The Human Cloud
    Dip Your Toes Into Freelancing Without Quitting Your Day Job
    Tactically speaking… How do you start freelancing? How do you know if you’re the right fit to freelance? How do you dip your toe into freelancing without quitting or affecting your day job? In todays economy you need a freelance muscle. A couple major reasons…
    Read more
    3 years ago · Matthew Mottola

🤔 Great Resignation Isn’t That Great…

  • Bloomberg highlights how many that left for higher pay ended up in a worse situation.

    • WTBFD 1: For individuals and leaders, cool the jets on chasing your next best offer OR candidate. Instead, focus on the outcomes and how to get to those outcomes.

    • WTBFD 2: Especially with a recession on the horizon, the great resignation should lessen.

💩 Return To The Office: The Party That No One Showed Up To

  • Almost half of people show up just one day a week.

  • Office occupancy worldwide has peaked at 40% this year, with the lowest rate in Latin America at 11%.

🤖 Rage Against The Robots

  • Fun fact: ~75% of resumes are screened by algorithms.

  • Not so fun fact: People are fighting back as lawsuits ensue across the US and EU.

    • WTBFD: Screw the robots or HR filters. Instead of trying to get that ‘perfect’ hire in the door, let applicants prove themselves through freelance projects.


🙌 Leader Shoutout: Will Lawrence, PM, for his template.

  • WTBFD: Whether a manager or a client, consistent expectation management is the key to a successful long term relationship!

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How To Work With A Freelancer
Dear Client, are you the person directly managing me (the freelancer)? If so, consider this an intro to working with me. Maybe this is your first time. Or you’ve had a couple bad experiences. I get it…it’s not something included in the leadership videos…
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3 years ago · Matthew Mottola
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Jason Posel, CEO of GreenLight.ai
Leaders, let’s talk: Emergence of the MSP (managed service provider) What’s the difference between VMS and MSP? What happened with Microsoft and how did that change our industry? How has the freelance economy changed from a contingent worker economy to a chosen independent economy…
Read more
3 years ago · Matthew Mottola
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David Obadia, Ex SAP Fieldglass, VMS/MSP Veteran
Leaders, Our space is a weird intersection of staffing, VMS/MSP’s, tech, and freelance marketplaces. Most people are good at one, but very few can understand the full range. Davis is one of those rare few as he was an early leader at SAP Fieldglass. He’s a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the history of VMS’s/MSP’s, and the below knowledge should be in a curriculum for every leader in our space…
Read more
3 years ago · Matthew Mottola

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