Independent workers — those who don't have a payroll job at all, or who perhaps divide their time between a full- or part-time payroll job and freelance work on the side — are growing in numbers. And three major trends point to some of the shifts in pay and attitudes among them.
That's according to a study from MBO Partners, which identifies the first trend as a strong job market that's making it easier for independents to compete, on their own terms, for work. A current unemployment rate of 4.3 percent coupled with 6 million job openings and an economy that last year added 2.2 million payroll jobs in the past year is giving many independents with in-demand skills a chance not only to find additional work, but to ask for — and get — more money for it.
Some, in fact, are making more money than a payroll job would offer; this year — for the sixth year in a row — the number of high-earning independents has risen. That's 3.2 million people — almost one in every five of full-time independents (those who work independently more than 15 hours per week). And those high-earners make more than $100,000 a year.
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Of course, that doesn't mean that everyone is happy with the independent work life. The study says the second trend is the strong job market is allowing some of those they term "reluctant independents" — those who wouldn't be working independently if they could find a traditional job that offers as much opportunity as independent work — to find payroll jobs and leave the independent workforce behind.
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In 2012, it says, the reluctant independents made up 34 percent of the workforce; that dropped in 2016 to 26 percent and has now fallen to 24 percent. But just because they left doesn't mean they'll be able to stay out of the independent workforce; says the study, "some independent workers return periodically to traditional employment after cycling through independent gigs every few years — usually related to a seeking new job skill or life change," such as becoming a caregiver for a family member.
So this trend has brought the number of full-time independents down in 2017 for the second straight year, by 4.1 percent to 16.2 million. Part-time independents (those working fewer than 15 hours per week) also fell, from 2016's 12.4 million to 11.8 million.
The third trend is for more people overall turning to part-time or occasional independent work to boost income. Those added jobs don't necessarily come with enough money to support those workers and their families, and even existing jobs have not seen salary increases commensurate with inflation and other higher costs.
In fact, between 2007–2015, median household income in the U.S. rose just 12 percent, which translates to a paltry 1.43 percent annual rate. So people are taking to independent work — side gigs — as a means of making ends meet.
That's brought the number of occasional independents — those working irregularly or sporadically as independents but at least once per month — to 12.9 million, up a maybe-not-so-surprising 23 percent from 10.5 million in 2016. This sector largely accounted for 2017's independent workforce growth.
Men are taking to the independent workforce better, and in more numbers, than women; the former make up 53 percent of independents and 69 percent say they like it that way, compared with the 47 percent of women in independent work, of whom only 55 percent say so. In addition, men are making more money in independent work than women, according to 54 percent of men and 43 percent of women. And men in independent work feel more secure (52 percent) compared with just 39 percent of women.
Considering 49 percent of part-time independents say they also have a full-time job, it's clear that one thing is likely to remain constant in the independent market: change.
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