08/15/2019

How Freelancing Is Influencing A Generation Of Employees

The freelance revolution has had a nuanced impact on younger generations

Freelancing has become an increasingly popular career choice. We’ve seen large year-over-year increases in the number of professionals who describe themselves as career freelancers. Mary Meeker recently observed that the freelance workforce was growing at three times the total workforce. McKinsey and Upwork both forecast that freelancing will continue to grow, made easier through technology and the acceptance of remote work.

The range of professions in which freelancing is a factor is also expanding. Those familiar with my Forbes writing will recognize the growth of freelancing among designers, anthropologists, physicians, lawyers, musicians, dentists, airline pilots, scientists, musicians and management consultants among other professions. And, new online talent marketplaces are joining the fray almost weekly. Firms like Flexing It in India, Singapore and now Japan, Pangara in Vietnam, Expertera in Turkey, and new startups across the Middle East are making freelancing a global phenomenon.  The U.K., a global center of freelancing startups like Hoxby Collective and MeasureMatch, has even created a professional organization to support freelancers called the IPSE or the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed. Here in the U.S. we have the Freelancers Union.

But, beyond the growth of freelancing as an individual career choice, the freelance revolution has another, more nuanced, impact: its influence on today’s Millennial and Gen-Z employees, and the organizations that employ them. Here are the top eight ways that freelancing is impacting the work and workplace of traditional employees, and how employers are adapting.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Forbes.