The Most Recent Gig Economy Statistics

People look towards freelance work because of all the good things that come from managing your employment. The greatest benefits of working gig economy jobs are:

• You decide your work arrangement
• You get to work from anywhere
• You choose your schedule and working hours
• You can work from anywhere if you do remote work
• Fee time
• Working independently

But of course, where there are pros, there are cons. The benefits come with a lot of downsides that you should consider before jumping into it head first. Some of the downsides gig economy workers face include:

• Poor work-life balance
• Burnout
• Guilt over taking time off
• Lack of employer-sponsored retirement funds
• Economic instability
• Little control over salary increases
• Lack of benefits including health insurance, life insurance, etc.
• Little job security
• No holiday pay or paid time off (PTO)

How much freelance workers make per hour depends on the kind of work they do. Some gig workers’ hourly rates, like Uber drivers, depend on factors like distance driven and traffic. Other freelancers, like copywriters and programmers, will set their wages and can increase them if they please. Freelancers that want more control over their hourly wages would do well with gigs where they choose their clients. Freelancers that just want a flexible work schedule do better with gig work where they join a gig platform.

There are different types of independent work you can find. Some require you to find the work yourself while others require you to join a gig platform that’s owned by a company that distributes the work. Some of these companies with online platforms are:

• Uber
• Upwork
• Lyft
• DoorDash
• Freelancer
• GrubHub
• Instacart
• Flexjobs
• Fiverr
• Airbnb