Study Reveals What Drives Top-Performing Teams and It’s Not AI

Freelance platform Upwork’s research suggests blended teams – those that combine the institutional knowledge of full-time employees with the specialized skills of independent experts – report better performance and results.

The workforce is undergoing a massive disruption driven by AI. The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2030, 59% of employees will need training – 29% to upskill, 19% to reskill – while 11% risk missing out entirely.

Freelancers are ahead of full-time employees when it comes to AI readiness. Upwork data reveals that 54% of skilled freelancers already rate their AI proficiency as advanced to expert, and 62% use the technology several times a week, surpassing adoption rates among full-time workers.

As skill gaps widen, leaders turn to freelancers to close them. According to Upwork data, 76% of executives and 78% of CEOs report seeing more value from their top freelancers than degree-holding employees. As a result, nearly half of CEOs intend to increase freelance hiring over the next year.

Upwork data from analyzing US public companies shows that those with the highest year-over-year growth were more likely to rely on diverse work models, with 50% using managed services, 45% integrating skilled freelancers across functions, and 41% leaning on strategies that involve human and machine collaboration.

Yet, very few companies are intentionally orchestrating internal and external talent. “Orchestration” refers to strategically aligning full-time employees, freelancers, and technology to maximize business output. Forward-thinking organizations recognize the advantage of holistic talent orchestration. They unify their workforce under one culture, performance framework, and streamline onboarding, offboarding, and other key processes.

Data also suggests external experts take less time to onboard and integrate faster than their full-time peers. It takes on average 35 days to fill a full-time role, while freelance hiring processes average nine to 14 days, and sometimes they are as short as one to two days. In today’s fast-paced market, tapping into independent talent gives companies the agility to act quickly and capture opportunities before competitors.

Upwork recommends companies “start small” when experimenting with blended teams. The platform suggests a few pilot programs for beginners, including hiring one to two freelancers to fill in skill gaps on a project, building an on-call freelance team for projects with a tight deadline, and putting freelancers through the same onboarding process as full-time employees.