"Employers need to prepare for shift..."

Really?  If, as most would say, "it's all about the bottom line," why haven't they already contracted freelancers? I was a "freelancer" for over 25 years.  I understood these important employer benefits: 

1. Overhead diminishes.  No holiday pay, no CPP.
And, it gets better...
2. Hire enough "external talent," the business space shrinks with fewer full-time staff;  move to smaller--cheaper--commercial space. 
3. Pay only for production.  When freelancers take coffee breaks, lunch hours, "sick days", THEY pay for the time, their employers (clients) don't.  Employers often receive better performance, too; good freelancers ensure future work is by producing more...and better.
4. "Cream of the crop": In some cities, employers can access the very best talent the city has to offer. 
5. Got a really good employee? Tell him/her full-time work is over.  Kick start the process with a pink slip.

I used many of these reasons in my own sales pitches...