, Columnist
Gig Economy Is Growing, But Not Growing Up
New evidence shows the American gig worker is real. And probably a tattooed freelancer.
Ready for our next gig.
Photographer: Lewis Mulatero/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
You weren’t totally imagining it! There really is a fast-growing contingent of Americans who get by on a variety of employments, none of them a full-time traditional job. They tend toward youth, and they increasingly find their gigs via online marketplaces.
That’s one message from two important surveys released this week: MBO Partners’ fifth annual “State of Independence” report, which came out Tuesday, and the second annual “Freelancing in America” report, sponsored by the Freelancers Union and Upwork, which is out today.