MBO Partners released their 2018 State of Independence report this week.
This is the 8th annual report in this series, making it the longest running look at independent work. Emergent Research (that's us) contributes to this study.
The study's top line finding is despite low unemployment and a strong traditional job market, the number of independent workers increased to 41.8 million, up from 40.9 million in 2017.
The increase was driven by a the continued growth of Occasional Independent Workers. These are people who work as independents at least once per month in average month, but don't regularly work as independents in an average work week.
The number of Occasional Independents increased from 12.9 million Americans in 2017 to 14.9 million in 2018. The main driver behind the growth is more people are looking for highly flexible work to supplement their income.
The number of Full-Time Independents fell in 2018 to 15.8 million, from 16.2 million in 2017. This was the third year in row the number of Full-Time Independents declined.
The main reason for this decline is the strong labor market is pulling independent workers back to traditional jobs.
This is especially true for what the report calls Reluctant Independents.
These are independent workers who would prefer a traditional job (cluster analysis is used to identify this group).
As the study chart above shows, the percentage of full-time Reluctant Independents has fallen consistently since 2012 due to the improving economy creating opportunities for reluctants to return to traditional employment.
Despite the overall decline in Full-Time Independents, the number of independent workers reporting making $100,000 or more continued to increase.
The strong economy and talent shortages mean highly skilled independent workers are more in demand and can charge more for their services (click to enlarge the chart below)
This year's findings continue to confirm a number of important points about independent work. These include:
- Most independent workers (63%) choose independent work
- Most independents workers (72%) are satisfied with independent work
- Most independent workers plan on staying independent (64%) or building a bigger business (12%), only 11% said they plan on seeking a traditional job over the next 2-3 years.
And probably most important, 79% of full-time independent workers say they are happier and 68% say they are healthier working on their own than if they had a traditional job.
We'll have much more on this study in coming weeks.
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