Freelancer Focus
Why Manufacturing Industries Are Going Freelance and Flexible
Written by: Flexing It
6/06/2025
4 minutes read
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Behind the familiar buzz of machinery, both manufacturing processes and hiring practices are being quietly rewritten.
Automation and digital transformation are fueling aggressive, scaled growth, prompting companies to ramp up their hiring efforts and turn increasingly to an unexpected source of strength - freelancers.
Across India and around the world, flexible or freelance talent is no longer on the margins. It’s moving to the centre of how work gets done.
What's Fueling the Freelancer Shift?
India’s manufacturing sector is on an aggressive growth path, with a target of US$1 trillion in manufacturing exports by 2030. With a 17% contribution to GDP and over 27 million workers, the sector is central to the nation's economic ambitions. But growth is not without disruption.
Key drivers include:
- AI, Robotics, and IoT: Smart factories require niche talent
- Digitisation & Electrification: Software is replacing hardware across machinery and mobility
- Sustainability mandates: Eco-design and lifecycle experts are now core to operations
The pace and complexity of these changes require expertise that is highly specialised and immediately deployable. For many manufacturers, freelancers offer the precision and agility that traditional hiring cannot.
The Data Speaks: Manufacturing’s Freelance Momentum
According to our Annual Trends Report FY24-25:
- 27% of all freelance projects in H1 FY25 came from the Industrials sector
- 59% of the projects involve onsite work, demonstrating that flexibility can also mean adapting to the demands of the physical workspace
- 88% demand full-time capacity, highlighting deep integration with core workstreams and teams
In-Demand Skills and Use Cases
Manufacturing companies are looking for experts who can solve, ship, and scale.
Top Skills in Demand:
Get the full report
Select project example: A leading energy firm onboarded a GenAI Consultant via Flexing It. The scope was to design configurable, reusable data pipelines for GenAI chatbot integration, handling structured and unstructured data.
Why Freelancers Fit the Future of Manufacturing
Freelancers have moved from temporary fixes to become integral strategic assets. Here’s why.
Speed and Scale: When the demand for specialised skills like robotic automation arises suddenly, freelance professionals can be mobilised quickly, offering a level of agility that traditional hiring often cannot match.
Cost Management: By engaging freelancers, companies shift from fixed labour costs to a model focused on paying for tangible outcomes, enhancing budgetary control.
Specialised Expertise: Freelancers provide access to particular skills - from predictive maintenance to Industry 4.0 innovations that are otherwise difficult to source on demand.
Flexible Innovation: This model allows companies to experiment, iterate, and expand projects with greater freedom, sidestepping the time and expense associated with long-term employment contracts.
The Road Ahead
As India eyes its industrial future and global players pursue innovation at scale, flexible talent models are a logical, economical response to the demands of modern industry.
Manufacturing is entering a new era: connected, automated, and sustainable. As a result, freelancers are becoming the core of the talent engine.
Discover how we can assist you in sourcing flexible talent.
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