A Freelancer is an independently employed individual who has an explicit aptitude for in demand skills. For instance, a consultant may work in front-end advancement, UI/UX plan, or data analytics. They are generally not committed for the long run along with that, they dodge workplaces and work from homes, or popular downshifting spots.
As we delve deeper into the digital age, the global workforce is beginning to see some major trends. For many, going into the office to punch in for a regular 9 to 5 workday is becoming a thing of the past. Many professions allow workers to find independent contractors who will pay them generous sums to do their jobs remotely.
With the pandemic placing restrictions on workers’ mobility, remote work has become more and more attractive, thereby putting further emphasis on freelance work. Many are beginning to see the upsides of freelancing, as it provides flexibility for work hours and allows workers to live wherever they want.
Key online freelance statistics
Freelancers earn money by contracting their work to different companies without necessarily being tied down to a specific firm. This means that they can often work remotely while contributing to multiple clients at once.
- Freelancers represent about 35% of the global workforce
- With a total global workforce of around 3.5 billion, there are about 1.1 billion freelancers around the world.
- There were 57 million freelancers working from home in 2019.
- 75% of freelancers say that they wouldn’t trade their freelancing job for other types of work.
- 68% of freelancers claim to have taken up their work to have more flexibility in their schedules.
- 55% of freelancers still have other full-time jobs.
- 65% of freelancers are male, and 35% female.
- The U.K. alone has over 1.4 million freelancers working today.
Freelance growth
- The share of full-time freelancers grew from 17% to 28% from 2014 to 2019.
- Though many started freelancing as a temporary gig, the number of people taking up freelancing long term grew from 18.5 million to 28.5 million since 2014.
- Over the next few years, 52% of the U.S. adult workforce is expected to work in freelance or have otherwise worked as an independent contributor.
- 68% of freelancers claimed to have started working independently in the past five years.
- 64% of freelancers found their respective jobs online.
- Europe experienced a 45% increase in freelancers from 2014 to 2019.
- 48% of the U.S. workforce will be freelancers by the end of 2020.
Freelancer earning statistics
The increasing average earnings for freelancers is one of the main components to such monumental growth in its numbers. Whether you’re a skilled professional or not, there’s plenty of markets that freelancers can tap in to earn a hefty sum.
We explore how much freelancers earn in this section, specifically on average hourly wages and how it differs from industry to industry. We’ll also be looking at how average income affects freelancers’ quality of living and any discrepancies in terms of gender.
- Freelancers contribute about $1 trillion to the American economy or about 5% of total GDP.
- 48% of freelancers get paid on a fixed fee, while 29% are paid hourly, and 23% experience a mix of both.
- 60% of freelancers claim they’re able to make more money than they did with their previous jobs.
- The median hourly wage for skilled freelancers was $28.
The significant Question arises is, whom do you find the perfect fit to ensure your project’s success? I’m sure you would have come across this dilemma. Would it be smarter to employ a freelancer to carry out different responsibilities or to Hire Developers having specialized and outstanding skills? Well, we should not forget Universal panacea does exist for all the problems.
FreelancingMarketplace without a doubt offers freedom, at a lower cost, but it also comes along with a brisk and risky outcome. However, the low cost and high-risk situation regularly counterbalance the points of interest.
Conversely, Agency is a balanced approach to deal with the issues and hire developers easily. They offer unwavering quality, along with support and security, and become an all-inclusive arm of your business and delivering the desired final outcome on time.
As mentioned above, both approaches have their own pros and cons. But the decision to choose among them depends on the project complexity, budget, expertise, and industry knowledge. According to my perspective, an individual specialist would be ideal to build up specific features in the existing project but when you talk about the new project the approach to Hire developers from an agency is the ultimate approach to scale your Project.
