Freelancing and Work Futures: A Multi-year Study of the Gig Economy

The landscape of work has shifted over the past 10 years with the rapid growth of online labor platforms like Uber, Lyft, Instacart, Upwork, and many others. These digital labor markets have developed opportunities for companies and millions of workers to participate in contingent work — aka freelancing arrangements. With this transformation, freelancers have become a more prominent segment of the American workforce, and the gig economy has become critical to understanding work and modern employment practices.

To investigate these gig work arrangements, technology, and workers’ experiences, the Digital Work Group conducted a multi-year study of freelance knowledge workers. We interviewed and surveyed 100+ freelancers from 2019 to 2023 to develop a better understanding of their practices, strategies and challenges.

In this post, I provide an overview of the state of freelancing, including some of our key findings from our multi-year study of digital freelancers.

Freelancing and the US Economy

The gig economy, often characterized by freelance and contract work, has become a significant contributor to the U.S. economy. According to Upwork’s 2022 Freelance Forward survey, 39% of the U.S. workforce (meaning 60 million Americans), are now…