Fiverr recently published the results of a study titled “Understanding The Impact Of The Freelance Economy“.
The report focuses on one particular area of the self-employed economy: specialized workers performing knowledge-based independent work. The report goes on to say that specialized independent workers perform services in technical, creative, and administrative fields. Approximately half of this
workforce provides what are commonly termed “professional services,” with the remainder working in arts/entertainment or technical services.
Fiverr teamed up with Rockbridge Associates, an independent research firm in Great Falls, Virginia, to conduct the study of specialized independent workers in 15 metropolitan areas across the United States comprised of urban, suburban, exurban, and some rural counties.
The goal of the study was to better understand the state of specialized independent workers in the United States, and using original and previously published research, to determine educational, social, and policy initiatives which could effectively grow freelancing across America and make it easier for independent workers to earn a well-paying living on their own.
Independent work is an increasingly large sector of the US economy, albeit
one that takes many forms. Spanning everything from construction work
to high-end consulting, independents as a group can be difficult to parse
and fully understand, especially when it comes to specialized knowledge
workers.
Self-employed specialized workers include lawyers, graphic designers,
wedding musicians, and engineers: anyone who receives a 1099 at the end
of the year for work that requires specific skills and abilities. Demand is
growing for their services: the self-employed specialized knowledge worker
population in the 15 biggest metropolitan areas rose 7 percent on average
from 2013 to 2015, and the average revenue growth for the same time
period was 11 percent.
However, specialized independent workers also face unique challenges:
limited legal protections, lack of access to reliable internet service, and
difficulty acquiring customers can limit earning potential. Fiverr’s study is
one of the first in-depth looks at specialized knowledge workers in the self-employed economy, and one we hope provides a launchpad for further
study.
Click here to access the full report.
If you’d like to learn more about how CXC Global partners with businesses to assist with the compliant engagement of the non-employee workforce in over 70 countries, please contact us.
