The creative industries are in the midst of a burnout epidemic. According to the latest data from Major Players, 59% of our people experienced burnout in the last 12 months. The time for inaction is over.

I should know, having spent a decade tackling the growing challenges of mental health in our industry. The fact that Major Player’s data shows that only 31% of people felt adequately supported by their employer should start alarm bells ringing for all of us.

But there's an additional gap that's growing. More than 30% of our workforce don't have an employer to provide any support, because more than a third of the creative sector is freelance or self-employed. No employer to provide an Employee Assistance Programme, resources, toolkits or support.

Closing the freelance support gap

Leapers, which for last decade has been focused on supporting freelancers, reported that 40% of freelancers felt a decline in their mental health in 2025, only 22% of freelancers feel they have adequate mental health support in the context of work, and over 70% of freelancers report they don't even know where to look for support. Not only are freelancers struggling, they don't even know where to turn.

Where employees might be able to ask for some time off, or speak to their manager or even get some support from HR, freelancers do not have these options. And it's only going to become a more significant gap, as the industry workforce continues to be reshaped.

In recent years, we've not only seen an explosion in the number of people stepping into freelancing by choice - often to seek improved mental health - but also many finding themselves freelancing, feeling they have ‘little other choice’ with redundancies, cost of living and a poor jobs market all contributing.

Additionally, employers across the board, from the smallest microstudios, to the largest network agencies, are embracing a leaner model: smaller perm headcount and a network of talented associates on contract, supported by AI, assembled to deliver a project then disband. Mission based working, teams designed for the brief.

If an increasing proportion of our workforce is freelance, and we want to be able to continue calling upon trusted freelance talent, we can no longer only include employees in our wellbeing and people policies. We need to be supporting all of our people to work well.

Freelancers aren't asking for wellbeing days and talks on nutrition, but rather a shift in behaviours to enable us to work well. For hirers to ‘do no harm’.

We've found three effective steps that any employer can take.

First, signposting to support. Too many freelancers don't know where to find support for their wellbeing at work. There are freely available resources, tools, communities and organisations who are doing the hard work around mental health in our industry. workwellwith.us for example, is a free portal any employer can signpost their freelancers towards, full of resources designed specifically for freelancers, and industry bodies like NABS have long included freelancers in the people they support.

Secondly, changing behaviours to prevent negative impact in the first place. The Freelance Friendly policy framework outlines a number of simple but effective actions like: paying fairly and promptly - far too many freelancers still face payment delays; clear contracts and good onboarding - too many freelancers are asked to work without a contract, putting their work and wellbeing at risk; respectful communication and ways of working - ghosting, cancellations, bullying and harassment are far too common; routes to escalate concerns - when issues arise, having a supportive approach to report issues without fear of reprisals; integrated inclusion and diversity policies - so the gaps and reporting on pay and representation include everyone you work with.

Beyond that, investing into talent pools to engage between the briefs. I'm working with increasing numbers of organisations to design and power these community support layers, which not only provide invaluable support infrastructure for freelancers, providing resources and tackling isolation, but also an engaged and retained talent network for the agencies to return to - which even reduces churn and talent costs.

Because this is a strategic move, not a warm and fuzzy one.

Whilst there may be no legal imperative to protect the mental health and wellbeing of freelancers, there's certainly a commercial one. Where Deloitte has consistently shown cost benefits of investing in supporting our people to work well, there's a clear ROI on supporting our freelancers too. 

When we support our freelancers, we see improvements across a number of factors that affect employers' bottom line, a very clear productivity benefit, showing improved focus, improved motivation, improved creativity. Supported freelancers do better work.

The importance of recognising talent ROI

Treating talent well leads to a clear cost saving - over 90% of freelancers treated badly by a client will not work with that client again. A friction which causes increased effort finding someone new next time, increasing cost and risk. Well supported freelancers stick around.

There is also a clear benefit when it comes to building good relationships and strong reputations. Employers who treat freelancers badly quickly gain an industry-wide poor reputation. Late payers are known. Freelance-friendly hirers benefit from attracting and retaining the best talent.

And most importantly, there's a broader Industry-wide return on investment. We are seeing more and more people leaving not just roles, but also the industry at large. This talent exodus is driven by the 36% who feel that leaving the industry would improve their wellbeing. A quarter of employees are already turning to side-hustles to cover their living costs.

Doing the right thing by freelancers isn't just a nice thing to do. This is a commitment to all of the people who help us to create the work, win the awards, deliver the profits. Regardless of their employment contract.

And if we don't, we risk losing our best and brightest people. Metaphorically and literally.

We often say about advertising, ‘we're not saving lives here’, but here's the opportunity to. It might sound dramatic, but I've had too many conversations with too many freelancers who are in dark places, because of the precarious nature of being self-employed.

And as an industry, this is the moment to recognise the 30% of our friends and colleagues who are delivering award winning work with 70% less help. Let's make 2026 the year we start to support 100% of our people.