MBO Partners recently released their 3rd annual Client of Choice study.
Like prior years, the 2019 study focuses on the growing group of highly-skilled independent professionals (freelancers, independent consultants, etc.) who provide services to businesses on a regular basis.
And the number of independent professionals has grown quite rapidly. As the study chart below shows, it's increased from 4.5 million in 2011 to 5.9 million in 2014, and to 7.4 million in 2018.
This makes it one of the fastest growing gig economy segments. Both supply and demand factors are driving this growth:
Organizations are hiring more independent professionals: The war for talent, skills shortages and the increased need for talent agility and flexibility is resulting in the greater use of external talent. Key quote from the report:
Software supplier SAP Fieldglass and the supply management analyst firm Ardent Partners each found that over 40 percent of the average corporation’s overall workforce is currently comprised of nonemployee labor. Ardent Partners also reported that nonemployee labor was only 16 percent of the average corporation’s workforce ten years ago.
It's also not just big businesses that are increasing their use of non-employee labor. Small businesses, governments at all levels and non-profit firms are also hiring more independent professionals.
More Highly Skilled Workers are Choosing to Become Independent Professionals: Many skilled workers are attracted to the work and life autonomy, flexibility and control being an independent worker provides. This, coupled with the growing demand for skilled independent workers, is resulting in more choosing to do this work.
This trend towards the growth of independent professionals is so powerful that Deloitte, who refers to these workers "off-balance sheet employees", calls the growth in their use one of the two most powerful trends currently impacting the future of work—along with artificial intelligence.
We'll have more from this study in the near future.
Disclosure: Emergent Research worked with MBO Partners on this study.
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