Independent workers are not at the edge of the workforce – they are one step ahead of it. They're also serving as their own personal CEO: running operations, strategy, and prospecting for the one-person company they manage on their own.
A fundamental workforce shift is rendering traditional talent management models obsolete. By 2025, the number of freelancers globally is expected to exceed 1.57 billion, meaning nearly 47% of the world's workforce will operate in some form of freelance capacity. As companies increasingly turn to freelancers to access specialized skills (88%), scale for workload peaks (68%), and cover workforce gaps (54%), the competition for top independent experts has never been fiercer.
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Malt's Editorial Collective gathers insights from our exceptional community of freelancers. The views and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author, and are published to encourage a diversity of perspectives and insights.
Is the AI bubble bursting? At Station F, the verdict was clear: we are entering the era of execution. Master the 3 skills needed to lead the 2026 AI market.
This article is adapted from a technical deep-dive by Nicolas Mauti, Staff MLOps Engineer at Malt. It was originally published on the Malt Engineering Blog. You can read the original version here.
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New European regulations (ViDA) are changing how you must receive and send invoices. We explain how you can stay compliant and avoid fines.
The sweet freedom of freelancing comes with a package deal, which sometimes includes the occasional administrative puzzle to solve. Finding your next home or planning a vacation is an exciting milestone, even if the administrative side requires a little extra creativity for independent talent. But what about couples where both partners are freelancers? Read on to find out more.
Malt's Editorial Collective gathers insights from our exceptional community of freelancers. The views and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author, and are published to encourage a diversity of perspectives and insights.
Malt was built to give freelancers and companies the freedom to work together on their own terms. In 2025, we’ve supercharged that mission by launching transformative updates to our intelligent matching engine and expanding our reach into comprehensive talent management.
Learn how to proactively manage the five greatest AI risks – from exposing confidential data and hallucinations, to loss of expertise. We show you the practical SAFER-Blueprint and give you concrete tips on how to use AI as a transparent, responsible sparring partner.
Freelancing has always required resilience, but 2026 demands something more: strategy, clarity, and a mindset built not just for surviving the uncertainty of independent work, but for thriving in it.
This year, your edge won’t come from working harder. It will come from working smarter, standing out more sharply, and building the kinds of relationships and capabilities that compound over time.
