The Rapid Rise of Freelancing in America and Across the World

The Rapid Rise of Freelancing in America and Across the World

Over the course of the past few years, the freelance economy has witnessed a growth that can only be described as astonishing. Between 2000 and 2014, the number of resumes on Indeed.com which listed freelancing as part of their work experience grew right at 500%. Today, freelancers make up about one-third of the workforce in America, and within a decade the majority of workers in the country are expected to be freelancers.

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the interesting stats pertaining to the growth of freelancing as well as the factors that have fueled its rapid rise.

The Freelance Economy by the Numbers

Plenty of surveys and studies looking into the growth of freelancing have been conducted in recent years, and the numbers they’ve produced provide interesting insight into the current and future state of the freelance economy. Some of the stats about freelancing’s growth include:

• As of right now, 57.3 million people in America work as freelancers, making up one-third of the US workforce.
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• Freelancers contribute $1.4 trillion to the US economy annually.
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• Freelancers are expected to make up the majority of the workforce in the US by the year 2027.
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• 19.8% of full-time freelancers earn more than $100,000 a year.
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• The average freelancer reaches their income goal within 23 months of freelancing.
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• 94% of workers say that they are open to the idea of freelancing.
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• 86% of freelancers chose a career in freelancing as their first choice.

Statistics such as these shed light on just how substantial a role freelancing plays in the current US and world economy as well as the increased role that freelancing is poised to play in the near future.

Factors Fueling the Growth of Freelancing

The rapid rise of freelancing is not coincidence as several unique factors have come into place in recent years creating the perfect storm for freelancing to grow. Some of the biggest factors giving rise to the growth of the freelance economy include:

• Technological Advances – By far one of the biggest factors contributing to the growth of freelancing has been the technological advances that make it easy for a person to work remotely. Various online platforms that connect freelancers with clients as well as affordable tools that make it easy for anyone to perform a wide range of tasks using only a laptop have made freelancing far more convenient than it was just a decade or so ago, making freelancing a much more viable option than it was in the past.
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• Changing Ideals About the Perfect Career – Freelancing offers benefits that more and more people are starting to consider ideal. Benefits such as the ability to set your own hours, work while you travel, and serve as your own boss are quickly overtaking benefits offered by a typical job such as stability in the minds of many workers. This is especially true among younger generations who are choosing freelancing at a much larger rate than the generations before them.
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• Companies Realizing the Benefits of Hiring Freelancers – There are a lot of benefits to working as a freelancer, but there are just as many benefits to hiring freelancers as well. As companies have begun to realize the advantages of including freelancers as part of their workforce, more and more freelancing jobs have become available. Companies that hire freelancers are able to pool talent from all over the world, hire an individual for a specific project rather than having to bring them on full-time, and leverage the skills that working as a freelancer provides. All of these benefits are very attractive to businesses looking to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market.

With these three factors combined as well as a host of other factors, freelancing has flourished in recent years. What’s even more significant is the fact that all three of these factors are poised to become even more influential in the coming years. Technology will continue to advance, companies off all sizes will continue to realize the benefits of hiring freelancers, and as younger generations grow to make up a larger and larger portion of the workforce their attraction toward freelancing will spur its growth as well.

Conclusion

Many experts conclude that we are in the middle of a fourth industrial revolution. There’s no denying the fact that they way people work and the way companies complete projects is rapidly changing, and freelancing is playing a major role in those changes.

Freelancing has already grown to a point of major prominence in the world economy, and that growth doesn’t seem as if it will slow down anytime soon. In fact, the reality that a majority of US workers will be freelancers within a decade is in many ways astounding. If you are in the middle of considering which career choice to make, now is a better time than ever to give freelancing a serious look.