Group of executives sitting together and having a meeting in the office. gettyThis past month, staffing leader Randstad acquired AI-powered digital talent marketplace platform Torc, signaling a new era of the freelance economy that promises to embed freelance into the broader talent ecosystem.The pandemic kickstarted the recent growth that we’ve seen in the freelance economy. In the US alone, there was a 90% increase in the number of freelancers between 2020 and 2023. We are not talking about one-time gigs: some 4.6 million individuals are making a viable salary of over $100,000 as independent freelancers.But while the number of individuals choosing to be self-employed rather than employed full-time has grown at a constant rate, corporate adoption has lagged.The interest is there. 65% of executives in 2023 planned to increase their reliance on external workers. However, freelance talent platforms haven’t scaled adoption in line with interest, and a key reason is that companies haven’t been able to reconcile freelance hiring (seen as niche, risky, and a “rogue spend”) with a safe, compliant, and planned talent strategy

Lettuce, a comprehensive solution that democratizes accounting and tax services for solopreneurs, announced the launch of LettuceHead AI, a first-of-its-kind AI-powered knowledge base and tax hub purpose-built to meet solopreneurs’ needs. With a focus on addressing solopreneurs’ frequently asked tax questions, businesses-of-one now have 24/7 access to LettuceHead AI, empowering this ever-growing group to make informed decisions about optimizing their business’ tax situation in real time.The number of professionals opting for full-time independent work since 2020 has increased by 91%, and the number of solopreneurs making over $100,000 a year has increased by 53% during that same period (MBO). Despite this growth and their essential role in fueling the economy, solopreneurs remain largely underserved, lacking the right information to guide them regarding their business taxes.“Although they are key contributors to the economy, solopreneurs don’t have enough guidance about how to approach and manage the accounting and tax aspects of their businesses, costing them an average of $15,000 a year. Accountants who work with solopreneurs often are inaccessible, expensive, and lack the expertise and/or willingness to serve them well. Technology is the only way to scale the guidance to meet the need. Our goal at Lettuce is to democratize the world of taxes and accounting, and our LettuceHead AI embodies this mission by providing guidance to help solopreneurs navigate the tax landscape through immediate, accurate information and advice at no cost,” said Ran Harpaz, founder and CEO of Lettuce Financial.Designed by solopreneurs for solopreneurs, LettuceHead AI provides:Free Access to Trustworthy Knowledge : Accessing accurate, dependable information is increasingly challenging, and specialized knowledge in areas such as tax and accounting for solopreneurs can be particularly difficult to find

"Martyn formally retired from the Partnership at Burnetts at the end of 2019 but carried on working as a valued consultant until his retirement from work in January this year."