The State of Gig Work 2023

Gig workers today account for a full 14 million Americans, according to a recent McKinsey & Co. report, and nearly one-third of younger adults have earned income through a gig platform at some point in their burgeoning careers. Interestingly, nearly half of U.S. gig workers have full-time jobs.

The advantages of gig work are clear: flexibility, creativity, additional income, being your own boss and the ability to work from just about anywhere. However, the disadvantages are also noteworthy, including lack of health care, other benefits and protections as well as inconsistent pay—in fact, one-quarter of gig workers earn less than their state’s minimum wage and many report being treated rudely or poorly.

That might be why this type of work is more common among lower-income brackets—only 9 percent of upper-income earners are earning an income through online platforms, according to Pew Research.

The most popular industries for gig work are recreation, construction and business services while manufacturing is on the opposite end, with only 2 percent of workers, based on a recent ADP Research Institute survey. Work can be both online (administrative, creative, finance and accounting, legal and more) as well as in-person (house cleaning, delivery drivers, yardwork, etc.).

Gig work is a side hustle for most—68 percent do it as a part-time job, according to Pew Research—while about one-third use this flexible type of employment as a main source of income. Just over 10 percent of gig workers in the United States say that they make at least half of their income from this work.

While gig work will continue to evolve and have both advantages and disadvantages, it is clearly going to be an influential part of the U.S. economy for decades and decades to come.

Gig Economy Stats Emphasize Highs and Lows of Freelance Work

Did you know?

…That more than 90 percent of workers in the United States say they would consider gig or freelancing work?

…That almost half of millennials use online independent contracting platforms to look for and find work?

…That gig workers earn nearly 60 percent less than traditional full-time employees—and most lack access to benefits, according to Prudential?

While the gig economy continues to grow, it also continues to have its challenges—including the many freelance employees who lost jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There are, however, many benefits for all parties: Companies can save money since they don’t have to pay for full-time salaries, office space and benefits, while freelancers can enjoy greater flexibility, work-life balance and variety, even working for multiple companies at once.

Today, about one-third of all U.S. employees take part in the gig economy, according to Upwork, representing nearly 60 million workers who work an average of 43 hours per week. The best-paying positions are in AI and blockchain, and the government/public sector is the largest employer at 14 percent, followed by professional and business services, education and health, and manufacturing, based on Statista research.

Freelance and independent contracting work are increasingly popular in Mexico, India and other locations, and younger people, in particular, gravitate to gig work. Presently, most self-employed workers in the United States (nearly 75 percent) are white, according to USA Facts.

Notably, about 60 percent of gig workers tout the flexibility of their positions while only 27 percent of regular workers do so, according to Forbes. Women currently represent just under half of all freelance workers, although this number is expected to grow as more women opt out of traditional workplaces for reasons involving family, workplace discrimination and self-fulfillment.

Today, up to 25 percent of U.S. employees work from home or telecommute at least occasionally, based on a Global Workplace Analytics report, although this number too, is likely to trend upwards.