Staggering Numbers: Freelance Work is More Profitable Than Ever Before

Many Americans are saying goodbye for good to the 9-5 – instead aiming to be their own business with freelance work. 

For aspiring freelancers this will be the year that their side hustle became their one way ticket to financial freedom. 

There’s a culmination of data we poured through here to present our case for why freelancing in 2020 is a no-brainer:

• A majority of… experts… say the US job market will be back to its February level [by] 2022 at the earliest (CNN)
• Majority of the US workforce will be freelancers by 2027 (Freelancing in America)
• The U.S. freelance workforce is growing faster than the overall U.S. workforce, outpacing overall U.S. workforce growth at a rate 3x faster since 2014 (Freelancing in America)
• Amid a global recession, the freelance workforce remains an essential pillar of the U.S. economy: Freelancers contributed $1.2 trillion dollars to the U.S. economy in annual earnings – a 22% increase since 2019 (Freelance Forward)

For years this tide of independent freelancers has been building and 2020 is the perfect storm. As unemployment claims continue to reach all time highs and more businesses close their brick and mortar locations – the demand for online professionals has never been higher. 

This shift is big news for the ecommerce world, which was already on this rise. The numbers are staggering. 99Firm’s Eccomerce Statistics for 2020 asserts some bold projections:

• By 2040, around 95% of all purchases are expected to be via ecommerce
• There are expected to be over 2B digital buyers in the world in 2020
• By 2040, around 95% of all purchases are expected to be via ecommerce

So what does all of this mean for freelance workers? 

If you’re looking to venture out into the freelance world, you can benefit from 1) the plethora of tools and services available to freelancers in recent years and 2) the online market that is not supplying enough freelancers to meet the unprecedented demand. 

As more businesses make the digital move, they will need independent and full time contracted workers to modernize their business and keep up with online trends. Whether you’re getting into copywriting, graphic design, accounting, SEO, or any number of lucrative skill sets – your chances of success have never been higher. 

Are there any other benefits to starting your freelance career today? 

• Freelancing increases earning potential: Of those who quit their full-time job in order to freelance, 75% say they earn the same or more in pay than when they had a traditional employer (Freelance Forward)
• Freelance coders and software developers earn up to $1,000 per hour (Freelancing Hacks)
• Freelance copywriters earn over $250 per hour (Freelancing Hacks)
• In 2014, Americans spend 1.8 trillion minutes (29.6 billion hours) commuting to work. Remote work can cut commuting times to zero (Nasdaq)
• There is a burst in demand for people to support customer services as well as ecommerce development, web and mobile design (Freelance Forward)

Conclusion

Freelance work has never been more in demand and has never had this level of social acceptance. 

Without having restrictions on how far you can scale your work – freelance work will not limit your growth with glass ceilings or corporate hoops.

Don’t get left behind in this emerging era of self employment. 

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