In the creative industries people are the product. When 32% of those people are freelancers, it is not hyperbole to say that freelancers are the lifeblood of the industry. Yet when it comes to valuing the glue that holds the industry together, new research suggests that the industry is failing to adequately support, or simply pay freelance talent on time.

Leapers is an organisation designed to support the mental health of freelancers and the self-employed.  Matthew Knight, Founder of the group, has long argued that if you care about the work you have to care about the people making it. Yet the latest research from Leapers reveals that 2024 was the hardest year for freelancers in the creative industries.

The research, which was conducted through an online survey distributed between November 1st 2024 - December 31st, 2024, lifts the lid on the lived experiences of freelancers. The survey collected quantitative data from 715 freelance professionals across multiple industries. The research uncovered major friction points in freelancers' working lives which are negatively impacting people’s confidence and mental health.

A growing trend towards ghosting

For the creative industries, where significant time and resources can be invested in acquiring business, the news that investment can simply be ignored may not be surprising. ‘Ghosting’, a phenomenon in which a client approaches an organisation or individual for work and then disappears, is a common complaint. Yet the research suggests this trend is only growing.

According to Leapers’ study 72% of respondents have been ghosted. A truth that poses the question: why are we not getting the basics right as an industry?

“I hope in most cases that it's just that everyone is overwhelmed and stretched,” says Knight. He points to the fact that when people are looking for freelancers they are turning to platforms like LinkedIn, getting 600 responses and then not being able to respond to them all. Yet he believes that volume is a poor excuse. He explains: “It's 2025, we have the technology to auto-respond as the lowest form of human decency, and even that is too much effort for some.”

The study suggests that when it comes to employee experience, freelancers just aren’t being considered. He explains: “Going missing in the middle of a project or after the work has been delivered is simply unacceptable and inexcusable.”

Building sustainable relationships

Knight believes that agencies need to think more about building successful and sustainable relationships with freelancers. Advocating for more people-centric processes, he explains: “Clients need to put a process in place to find, engage and manage their freelancers. This means actively thinking about how you work together, not just focusing on compliance. We need more accountability, more time spent on designing the relationship, good onboarding, good support, and good relationship management.”

According to the research, 45% saw their mental health decline in 2024. So is there more as a collective industry to do to support this vital yet undervalued and under-supported workforce?

Knight believes that recognising the value that freelancers bring to the industry is a vital starting point. 

“We should start by publicly recognising the importance and value of freelancers to our industry, not hide them behind NDAs or pretending we don't use them. Organisations need to have more internal accountability for freelancers, and identify the opportunities to work better together and remove the pain points, whether it's how we source talent, contracts, onboarding, feedback, payments, feedback, and signposting to support,” he adds.

According to Knight 70% of freelancers don’t know where to find support for their mental health, a challenge which hirers are well placed to support. 

He explains: “If you can't implement something yourself, work with partners like Leapers or NABS or organisations who can help you put signposting and support in place for your freelancers. There's positive ROI in working more effectively with freelancers, through increased productivity, lower talent costs and improved brand reputation - but ultimately, it's about taking shared responsibility for those we work with.”

The financial strain of freelancing

It is equally vital that companies espousing the importance of mental health don’t underestimate the devastating impact of financial instability on individual wellbeing. Just as the industry has collectively recognised ‘it’s ok to not be ok’, it is not ok to pay late.

Yet 71% of respondents experienced late payments and had to spend time chasing late payments. A state of play which poses the urgent question: what needs to change?

“We need complete transparency from clients and better awareness of the law from freelancers. Larger businesses should publish data on how quickly they pay their freelancers, and by not publishing their data, can name and shame themselves,” says Knight.

The government's new Fair Payment Code awards good and prompt payers, but Knight believes there's not enough being done to hold poor payers accountable, as the code is voluntary

He explains: “There's lots of advice on what freelancers can do to reduce the likelihood of late payments, but whilst the responsibility and burden should not be upon us to resolve the issue, being more aware of our rights under law of being able to charge interest, debt recovery costs and not being afraid to chase payments is essential. Naming and shaming, unfortunately, is too much of a professional risk to the freelancer - but step into any freelancing community, and you'll see conversations about which clients are bad payers, leading to other freelancers avoiding that business. 90% of freelancers say they won't work again for a badly behaving client - so clients are only preventing themselves from working with the best people.”

Imposter Syndrome does not exist

 The creative crisis of confidence that was so evident in Covid continues to wrap its toxic tentacles around industry professionals. The research reveals that 90% of freelancers experienced feelings of low confidence at some point in 2024.

A statistic which prompts the question: do we still need more honesty across the creative industries about the sharp edges of the hustle rather than hiding behind the hype of imposter syndrome?

“I think it's high time we put the notion of Imposter Syndrome to bed,” says Knight, continuing: “However, we equally shouldn't dismiss how frequently people are feeling unsure, or experiencing a lack of confidence because if you're working alone, and you don't have someone as part of your team to give you feedback, to say ‘hey, actually this work is great’, or challenge some of the negative thinking, it can be incredibly isolating, and feel like you're taking the entire responsibility for success on your own shoulders.”

He continues: “The creative industry especially is incredibly subjective when it comes to what ‘good’ looks like, and when you're a freelancer, being told ‘sorry but no’ more often than yes, it can chip away at even the strongest of personalities. This is one of the reasons why community and connection is so crucially important - buddy up with others, get input and feedback from peers, build teams around you, so whilst you might be working for yourself, you're not working by yourself.” 

In a market of delayed decision making a lack of clarity can all too easily bleed into a lack of confidence. Particularly when delays have such a negative impact on freelancer’s bottom line. As Knight explains: “If you book a freelancer on a project to run from March 1 to March 31, it's highly likely they'll be booking the next piece of work from April 1. If you then push that project back two weeks, you've just potentially removed over four weeks of income, i.e. the two weeks they don't have work from March, and the project they can no longer deliver in April.”

He continues: “A small delay as far as you might be concerned, an entire month of lost income for the freelancer - which could be the difference between being able to afford to pay their rent or not. And too many freelancers don't have contracts in place to protect against delays and cancellations. Most freelancers will just suck it up, and take the hit.”

Closing the flexibility gap

At a time when rollbacks in DEI programmes and return to office mandates are dominating industry headlines, the research underlines the uncomfortable truth that for many in the creative industries freelancing is not a choice.

The research revealed that one third of respondents had been forced into freelancing. A statistic which reflects the increase in redundancies and a lack of inclusion in the wider industry. While 77% of freelancers cite flexibility as the prime reason for being self-employed. 

According to Knight between 2020-2022, the industry saw a complete drop-off in people talking about 'control over where they work' being a major driver because WFH was practically the only way we could work. However, that number is back in the picture again. 

He explains “Return to office mandates will absolutely push more people into leaving a role, or considering self-employment. There are higher numbers of people in self-employment who are disabled, neurodiverse or perhaps less able to work in a perm role, because self-employment offers more flexibility around working location and conditions.”

Yet he notes that freelancers aren't immune from return to office policies. Many freelancers see their contracts stating when and where they should work from, despite that putting hirers at risk of the contract being pushed inside IR35 or similar. A situation which puts freelancers in the position of not benefitting from the sickness cover and perceived stability of a staff position, while at the same time being expected to sacrifice autonomy over how they work.

2025 is already shaping up to be a year in which plans have been placed on pause. Yet Leaper’s research underlines you can’t perpetually put off prioritizing the experience of people within the industry. Employee experience must also extend to freelancers. The uncertain economic climate means agile talent is increasingly vital to agency growth, but as this research shows it is vital to ensure that people are treated with humanity. While brands and agencies alike have increasingly adopted the language of mental wellbeing, when late payment and ghosting is so rife, it is painfully clear that many companies across the creative industries still aren’t getting the basics rights.