A report predicts that freelancers will be the majority of the U.S. workforce by 2027.
As technology changes the way we live, learn and work, freelancing faces a promising future.
According to a 2017 study by the Freelancers Union and Upwork, the freelance workforce grew from 53 million in 2014 to 57.3 million in 2017, and it could turn out to become the dominant workforce by 2027.
Undoubtedly, technology has changed the nature of industries and work, opening more job opportunities and time to learn new skills, preparing a fertile ground for freelancing, which is not exclusively about employment, but about education.
The Freelancers Union and Upwork index stated that freelancers are better preparing for the future of work than traditional employees with 65% of full-time freelancers updating their job skills, compared to only 45% of full-time traditional employees.
A way to get global talent and connect to industry changes
An Oxford Internet Institute found that between 2016 and 2017, there has been a 26% increase in the work that enterprises source from freelancers through platforms. But why?
Daily feedback and incoming demand has freelancers at the forefront of innovation, constantly aware of the technology shifts affecting their work. While some people are no longer confident that the work they do today will exist in 20 years, freelancers do not seem to close themselves to new learnings, making a very attractive market for global talent.
“The growth of the freelance workforce is three times faster than the traditional workforce,” noted Stephane Kasriel, CEO of Upwork. “And in a sign of just how much freelancing could grow, 47% of working millennials now say they freelance in some capacity.”
