A Snapshot of the Onsite Freelance & Contractor Workforce
Who they are and how they will change your talent strategy.
With over 17.7 million independent workers in the US workforce (up from 10.3 million in 2005), it is clear that we are in the midst of a transformational moment in the world of work. The number of independent workers is expected to grow to over 50 million by 2020 as the freelance economy becomes a fixture of the US Economy (Micha Kaufman, “Five Reasons Half of You Will be Freelancers in 2020,” Forbes, February 28, 2014).
More specifically, onsite local work, where a physical presence is required to complete an assignment, is the fastest growing segment of the freelance economy. In fact, it is expected to grow to $15.5 billion by 2020 (Andrew Karpie, Stang Industry Analysts, Online Stang Forecast 2020, January 2014).
Based upon what we see at Work Market, industries such as information technology and telecommunication, retail merchandising, promotional marketing, digital signage, medical device service, and facilities management – just to name a few – are turning to freelancers, contractors, and consultants in droves.
But who is this on-demand workforce? What types of jobs do they do? What kind of skills do they bring to the table? Where do they live? What types of tools do they use in their everyday work? How do you find and manage them? That’s what we’ll examine in this paper.