Upwork, the largest online marketplace for connecting Freelance workers with those who might hire us, continues to examine the state of Freelancing in America, a project the company began in 2014. I last reported on the survey in 2017.

As you probably guessed, the number of Freelancers, and clients willing to hire independent workers, continues to grow. To study the current state of Freelancing, Upwork’s 7th annual report, researchers surveyed 6,000 Freelance workers in the U.S. Survey respondents covered the spectrum—full-time, part-time, the side hustle (formerly known as moonlighting) and occasional workers. The data revealed that 59 million Americans performed Freelance work of some sort during the previous 12 months, an increase of 2 million Freelancers since 2019 and representing 36% of the U.S. workforce.

The response of businesses to the coronavirus shutdown that began in March 2020 caused seismic changes in the workplace. Impacting mostly white collar office workers, the Work From Home revolution would become a turning point for employees and their employers. By spring – summer 2021, COVID-19 vaccinations were well underway and many employers began to ask their employees to return to the office, but there was sometimes pushback. As children returned to school, working parents found it easier to WFH when the burden of toggling between paid work and supervising classroom lessons had ended. According to researchers at Upwork, it is anticipated that 40 million or more employees will work from home at least one day/ week by 2026.

WFH had more reach than could have been imagined, giving rise to the unprecedented Great Resignation. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that from April – June 2021, 11.5 million workers quit their jobs; in September, another 4.4 million left their places of employment. It appears that employees are done with office politics, done with endless meetings that have no purpose and done with bosses who withhold pay raises and promotions because they enjoy controlling people’s lives.

As you might expect, the Great Resignation impacts Freelancers because they have to make a living somehow. Furthermore, the WFH phenomenon has speeded up a growing acceptance among managers of hiring Freelance workers. Upwork in August 2021 reported that 53% of managers are now more willing than pre-pandemic to hire Freelancers for selected projects and tasks, as a result of their experience with remote workers in their own organizations.

See the full Upwork report for more details. https://www.upwork.com/i/freelance-forward

• As of July 1, 2021, 59 million workers in the U.S. performed Freelance labor over the past 12 months, an increase of 2 million workers since 2019 and representing 36% of the workforce
• Freelancers annual earnings in aggregate were $1.2 Trillion, an increase of 22% since 2019 and representing 5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product
• 36% of Freelancers now consider themselves full-time, an 8% increase since 2019
• The number of Freelancers in the United States has increased by almost 12% between 2014 and 2021
• 75% of workers who quit their jobs to become Freelancers report that they earn the same income, or greater
• Freelancers earn, on average, $28 an hour for performing skilled services
• Young professionals have embraced Freelancing and half of the Generation Z workforce has done Freelance work
• Freelancers age 55 + comprise 26% of the Freelance workforce and they primarily do skilled and project-based work
• 50% of Freelancers provide professional level services such as computer programming, software development, marketing, social media, translation and business consulting, an increase of 45% since 2019
• 51% of Freelancers have participated in skills development training in the past 6 months, as compared to 36% of traditional employees
• 19% of Freelancers earn $75,000 to $99,999 per year, 12% earn $100,000 to $149,000 per year and 5% earn $150,000 or more per year
• 58% of freelance workers in the United States have worked with more than 5 clients in the past 6 months
• 58% of traditional employees who are WFH due to the pandemic are now considering Freelancing in the future

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: A Freelancer in America at work