Nearly a third, or 28%, of employers worldwide anticipate hiring more contract professionals in 2021, according to a survey from recruitment firm Morgan McKinley.

The ‘2021 World of Work’ survey found that 27% of employees see themselves making the shift from a permanent job to more flexible employment as a contractor in the coming year.

“We can see from this alignment in 2021 that employers and employees are adapting and continuing to be agile to the big market changes happening in the world at the moment, flexible working options are key to this,” Morgan McKinley stated.

The survey covering five key areas of the working world - contracting, pay rises, remote working, hiring plans and upskilling. People were surveyed across Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Japan, Canada, Ireland, and the UK.

Meanwhile, 51% of companies believe that they will need to hire for new skill sets throughout 2021, in order to appropriately react to market changes. At the same time, most professionals appear eager to increase their employment value, with 77% planning to upskill in their area of expertise.

The survey also showed that 49% of global businesses are confident that their organisation will return to normal levels of hiring in 2021. However, professionals seem to be less optimistic about the resurgence of the recruitment market, with 32% believing that hiring will return to pre-Covid-19 levels in the coming 12 months.

Despite the pandemic, almost half of businesses are planning on returning to normal hiring levels in 2021.

“Companies have adapted to current market circumstances with changes like remote working, as well as the need to continue with their business plans despite the turbulent market,” the survey stated. “Although only a third of employees felt the same way, there will clearly be job opportunities in 2021.”

 Over half, or 51%, of employers feel confident that they will be in a position to offer pay rises in 2021 while 28% of employees are optimistic about being offered an increased salary.

“It will be important for companies to retain their talent in 2021 in order to have the capability to adapt to the current market and stay competitive,” Morgan McKinley stated. “While employees may feel differently about the prospects of a pay rise, the stats show that there will be that opportunity from the employers’ perspective.”

Gurj Sandhu, Managing Director, Morgan McKinley said, “No doubt all businesses and organisations have already laid out their strategic plans for 2021, which will rely heavily on their existing or new talent pools, but it is important that they ensure they are paying the correct market rates for current and incoming employees.”

Meanwhile, 89% of businesses anticipate remote working to continue to some extent into the second half of 2021.

Professionals share this perception with 86% of employees also think working from home will remain largely prominent.