With the set of solutions available within the platform, the company aims to change the market approach to contractor management and make freelancers as protected as full-time employees.

LIMASSOL, Cyprus: Solar Staff, an HR tech company providing solutions for service deal optimization with freelancers from 190 countries and one of the winners of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 Ranking, announces the launch of Mellow. This landmark HR platform supports the growing trend towards project-based work and elevates it to a new level by helping companies seamlessly collaborate with contractors and integrate them into day-to-day business operations. Mellow makes the non-employee engagement process clear and convenient, streamlining the selection and management of talent through a set of technological solutions. Furthermore, the platform benefits freelancers, as it has solutions to ensure they are getting paid and receive benefits, bridging the gap between full-time and project-based work.

Working with freelancers is becoming increasingly common, given the higher percentage of professionals who don't want to fit into a traditional office setting, particularly as Gen Z enters the workforce. Today, there are around 1.57 billion freelancers, with this number steadily rising each year. Still, companies lack knowledge regarding how to handle this new segment of the workforce. At the same time, the HR-tech market is focused either on all-in-one HR solutions for in-house employees or services aimed at one-time interactions with contractors, such as freelance marketplaces.

Mellow combines tools that address both the pain points companies face when systematically working with contractors and those freelancers encounter by not having a permanent job. Solutions differ depending on the region, with US-based ones focused on B2B services like being a Contractor-of-Record, with Mellow assuming all risks and obligations associated with contracting temporary workers, including misclassification, and an AI-powered tool for finding the right talent by leveraging the hiring manager’s network. The European solutions respond to the local demand for enhancing freelancers’ social security, offering a range of services including payment-related assistance, advisory to obtain digital nomad visas, and tax support. The company will be led by Pavel Shynkarenko, who is stepping down from leading Solar Staff to fully concentrate on developing Mellow.

“With freelancers accounting for about 47% of the global workforce, companies need to treat contractors as their workforce, effectively finding, managing, and retaining them. We want to make project-based work accessible for everyone and convenient for both companies and freelancers, addressing all aspects of their interaction for potential long-term relationships. We identified a niche where our company could actively grow and set the goal to establish new industry standards for working with freelancers," comments Pavel Shynkarenko, CEO of Mellow.

The freelance platform market is valued at $6.56 billion in 2024, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.6% for the next five years, reaching a value of $14.17 billion by 2029.

Fonte: Business Wire