Since the pandemic, people have been reevaluating work's role in their lives. And for many, work-life balance, the ability to pursue passions, and health and wellness are taking center stage as top priorities.
MBO Partners' study Life Goals: Exploring the Great Realization in Depth explores the life goals of independent workers (freelancers, gig workers, self-employed, etc.) and how successful they are at achieving them.
The key finding of this study is that independent workers outperform traditional jobholders in achieving their life goals.
The study chart below (click to enlarge) illustrates the top 3 life goals reported by a survey of traditional and independent workers.
As the chart shows, independent workers outperform traditional workers in all 3 of the top categories.
Independent workers scored higher in all areas except financial goals. They scored lower than traditional workers in earning a steady income and being on track for retirement.
Interestingly, they scored statistically the same for the goal of creating wealth. This is likely due to both types of workers scoring low on this achieving this goal.
One goal that caught our attention was continued personal growth. Almost two-thirds (64%) of independent workers reported achieving this goal versus 54% of traditional workers.
Based on our interviews with independent workers, the need to continue to upskill and adapt to changing demand associated with independent work is likely why independents score higher in this area.
Of course, not all independent workers are successful at achieving their life goals.
The study found that about one-third of independent workers score poorly regarding life goal achievement. In most cases, this group reports not having the work/life flexibility, autonomy, and control that more successful independent workers have.
MBO Partners collaborated with future of work expert Connie Steele and her firm, Flywheel Associates, on this study. Flywheel Associates provided input, guidance, and survey questions from their annual State of Work and Career Success study.
Emergent Research (that's us) also collaborated on this study.
