There's been plenty of discussion about the recruitment market this year. Budgets are being watched carefully, hiring decisions are taking longer and businesses are thinking more closely about where they invest in people.
But that doesn't mean the work has stopped.
Projects still need delivering, clients still have expectations and teams still need the right skills to get things done.
One area we're seeing particularly strong activity in at Beyond The Book is freelance and contract recruitment. And what's interesting is that the reasons businesses are coming to us aren't all the same.
Some need immediate support. Others are exploring something new, tackling a specialist project or making sure their existing teams aren't stretched too thin.
We asked our consultants to look back at some of their recent placements to understand what's driving those decisions.
Here's what we're seeing.
What does the wider recruitment market look like?
Our experience reflects some of the changes happening across the wider UK recruitment market.
The KPMG and REC Report on Jobs published in October 2026 showed that both permanent placements and temporary billings increased during September.
It's an encouraging sign after a prolonged period of caution, although the recovery remains gradual and employers are still being selective about recruitment decisions.
Flexible hiring continues to play an important role, with businesses looking for ways to access skills, deliver projects and manage changing requirements.
And importantly, the improvement in permanent hiring alongside temporary growth suggests these two approaches can work together.
But national figures only tell part of the story. The reasons behind individual hiring decisions are often much more practical.
1. When a specific project needs a specialist skill
Not every business needs every skill permanently.
One of our recent freelance placements came from a client needing specialist visualisation expertise for a particular project.
They had a clear requirement, but it wasn't necessarily something that justified adding a new permanent position to the team.
That's a fairly common situation across marketing, creative and digital businesses. A project might require an experienced motion designer, a particular technical skill or someone with knowledge of a platform the existing team doesn't use regularly.
Bringing in a freelancer means the business can access that experience for the period it's needed.
It also allows permanent employees to focus on the work they're best placed to deliver, rather than trying to cover every specialist requirement themselves.
2. When a business wants to try something new
Another recent client came to us with a new idea they wanted to explore.
Rather than immediately building a permanent team around it, they chose to bring in freelance expertise to help get things moving.
It's a useful option when there's a concept worth exploring, but the longer-term requirement isn't yet clear.
Perhaps a business is trialling a new service, exploring a different creative direction or experimenting with a new marketing channel.
An experienced freelancer can help turn that idea into something tangible, giving the business a better understanding of the skills, resources and time needed to take it further.
If the idea becomes an ongoing part of the business, that's often when permanent recruitment comes into the conversation.
3. When an unexpected departure leaves a gap
One of the more urgent reasons clients approach us is when someone leaves unexpectedly.
We recently supported a client who had lost two key permanent members of their team.
They needed experienced people who could step in quickly, keep the work moving and provide some breathing space while they looked for permanent replacements.
That breathing space matters.
Recruiting the right permanent person can take time, especially when you're replacing someone with specialist knowledge or significant responsibility.
Without temporary support, the pressure often falls on the people who are left behind. Workloads increase, deadlines become harder to manage, and the recruitment process itself can become another challenge for an already stretched team.
Freelance or contract support can make that transition much easier, without rushing an important permanent hiring decision.
4. When a business isn't quite sure what a permanent role should look like
Sometimes the question isn't whether the work needs doing. It's what the long-term role should actually involve.
We've recently supported a charity that wanted to assess the suitability of a new position before committing to a permanent appointment.
Bringing someone in on an interim basis gives an organisation the opportunity to understand the day-to-day responsibilities, workload and skills required.
It can also highlight things that weren't obvious when the role was first discussed.
Does the position need to be full-time? Is the level of experience right? Does it sit within the right team?
These are useful questions to answer before making a long-term commitment.
Of course, this shouldn't become a way of keeping an ongoing role temporary indefinitely. But where the requirement is genuinely being established, interim support can help a business make a more informed decision.
5. When there's a job that simply needs sorting
Not every freelance requirement is about a major campaign or organisational change.
Sometimes a business has a particular piece of work that's important but hasn't had the time or internal expertise to give it the attention it needs.
Another placement we've recently made for a charity involved bringing in a consultant to oversee and organise its digital asset management system.
It's a good example of work that needs experienced hands but doesn't automatically require a permanent employee.
The right specialist can assess what's there, identify the issues, put improvements in place and help leave the organisation in a better position.
For businesses with a growing list of projects like this, freelance support can be a practical way of making progress without continually pulling permanent employees away from their core responsibilities.
So, is freelance becoming more popular than permanent recruitment?
It's not quite that simple.
Recent market figures suggest both permanent and temporary recruitment are showing signs of improvement, and our own recent placements demonstrate why businesses continue to need both.
Freelancers and contractors are particularly useful when there's an urgent gap, a defined project or a specific skill requirement.
Permanent recruitment remains important when a business needs someone to take long-term ownership, develop with the organisation and build lasting knowledge within the team.
In many cases, the two complement each other.
A business might bring in temporary cover while recruiting a permanent replacement. A specialist freelancer might help launch a new service before the organisation builds an internal team. Or a permanent marketing department might regularly use freelancers for skills it only needs occasionally.
The key is understanding what the business actually needs, rather than starting with a particular type of hire.
What we're seeing at Beyond The Book
What's been encouraging about our recent freelance activity is the variety of reasons clients are coming to us.
These aren't all businesses putting permanent hiring on hold. They're organisations finding practical ways to respond to changing needs, access expertise and keep important work moving.
And that's where having access to both permanent and freelance recruitment can make a difference.
At Beyond The Book, we work closely with businesses across Marketing, Creative, Digital and wider business functions to understand the challenge they're facing and find the right people to help.
Whether you're planning a permanent hire, need someone to step in quickly or have a project that's been sitting on the to-do list for too long, we're always happy to talk through your options.
Sometimes the right answer is freelance. Sometimes it's permanent. And sometimes it's a combination of the two.
If you're considering freelance or contract support for your business, you can find out more about how we work with clients and the support we offer.
