The independent workforce is bigger than anyone thought
The independent workforce — including the gig economy — is larger than anyone has previously estimated, according to a new report.
Up to 162 million people are working independently throughout the United States and European Union, the McKinsey Global Institute determined in its report Independent Work: Choice, Necessity and the Gig Economy.
McKinsey analyzed existing government and private sector data and surveyed workers in the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden to reach that conclusion. The 162 million number is extrapolated from the finding that independent workers make up between 20 and 30 percent of the working-age population in the U.S. and EU.
SEE ALSO:67% of workers in the gig economy wouldn't join it againA recent survey from the Freelancers' Union, by comparison, estimated that 55 million Americans worked as freelancers in 2016.
"This is a bigger phenomenon than we thought, and it's growing," McKinsey partner Susan Lund, who co-authored the report, told Mashable. "We're able to get at the motivations. Do people want to be doing this? Are they satisfied?"
The McKinsey study included workers who supplement their income with independent work, rather than just workers who depend on independent models for their full-time employment.
Of those independent workers, however, only a small percentage are members of the oft-maligned gig economy — providing labor on a contract basis through a service like Uber, Postmates or TaskRabbit.
Only 15 percent of the projected 162 million independent workers have ever used a digital platform for their work. Within that 15 percent, only 6 percent provide labor.
Instead, the "independent workforce" includes people would likely identify as self-employed.
SEE ALSO:Etsy proposes 3 ways to improve the gig economy in new reportMcKinsey characterized independent work as work that is flexible, is paid by the task or assignment and has a short-term relationship between the worker and the customer. A tax accountant fits that description just as well as an Uber driver.
Of the 15 percent who use a digital platform for their work, many are selling items on eBay or Etsy or renting rooms on Airbnb rather than driving an Uber or delivering food.
Notably, 70 percent of workers said they were choosing to pick up independent work, whether for their primary or supplemental income. The other 30 percent were doing so out of necessity.
SEE ALSO:Labor Department guarantees sick leave to federal contractorsThose who chose to pick up independent work, unsurprisingly, reported higher levels of satisfaction with their work.
The 148-page McKinsey report also ties independent models of work to history. Most workers were independent at the turn of the twentieth century, until the Industrial Revolution tied workers to one employer and a 9-5 model, Lund said.
"The 9-5 job is becoming more of a myth than the reality of how people make their living," Lund said. "It's time for everyone to reset how they think about work."
TopicsUber
(责任编辑:行业动态)
- NYT mini crossword answers for August 29
- Disruptive offshore wind pyramid moves to real
- YouTube to curb videos promoting 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories
- GE installs world's first spiral
- Black Friday GPU Buying Guide: November GPU Pricing Update
- Expanded police surveillance will get us “broken windows” on steroids.
- HBO offers Veep, Sopranos, Succession, more for free social distancing
- Form Energy's ultra
- North Korea continues activities at Yongbyon but no clear sign of spent fuel rods transfer: report
- Foreign, multicultural students rise amid declining school population
- Osaka rallies to oust Gauff while Barty advances at Cincinnati
- Osaka rallies to oust Gauff while Barty advances at Cincinnati
- 29县农林牧渔业产值超百亿,茂名湛江包揽前5名丨数读广东统计年鉴2023
-
Trump won't stop making a deceptive bird claim. Experts debunk it.
Billions of birds are likely killed in the U.S. each year — but contrary to popular claims, wi ...[详细] -
Georgia gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp points gun at teen in ad.
In another instance of a political candidate wooing voters by demonstrating a totally normal and goo ...[详细] -
Korea looks forward to ‘more normal’ this summer
A woman in face mask plays the guitar at a riverside park in Yeouido, central Seoul, on Sunday. (Yon ...[详细] -
Moon urges full probe into Gwangju building collapse
Firefighters rescue people trapped under a mound of debris in the southwestern city of Gwangju on We ...[详细] -
Kenneth Dillon ,August 1, 2024 Pragmocracy ...[详细]
-
N. Korea faces serious humanitarian crisis: report
North Korean flag (AFP-Yonhap)North Korea faces a serious humanitarian crisis due to food insecurity ...[详细] -
The 7 best YouTube cooking channels to up your culinary game
Internet of Yumdigs into all the things that make us drool while we're checking our feeds.There are ...[详细] -
White man convicted of viciously beating black man at Charlottesville rally.
A white man who beat a black man in a parking garage during the violence at the Unite the Right whit ...[详细] -
I got a chance to play around with the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and man, it looks like we have to completely ...[详细]
-
Disruptive offshore wind pyramid moves to real
T-Omega's pyramid-based floating wind turbines are designed with the sole common-sense focus of keep ...[详细]
Apple finally sends out payments for MacBook's butterfly keyboard settlement
What the end of the Iran deal could mean for the Middle East.
- A Barbie flip phone is here from HMD
- Facebook bans 'dangerous' individuals from Facebook, Instagram
- Osaka rallies to oust Gauff while Barty advances at Cincinnati
- The 7 best YouTube cooking channels to up your culinary game
- 20 Places to Eat Dumplings and Noodles for Lunar New Year
- Disruptive offshore wind pyramid moves to real
- Historic fusion ignition in a lab experiment confirmed