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McKinsey Global Institute
1. Sizing the independent workforce
How digital technology is transforming independent work
The contingent segment of the labor force existed long before the Internet, but digital
platforms, payment systems, and tools for remote collaboration
are enabling new work
arrangements and allowing new business models to proliferate.
Digital platforms represent a potentially transformative business model when applied to
the labor market. By using sophisticated search tools to connect customers with individual
workers willing to perform a service, they enable independent earners to find customers,
contracts, and assignments. Because they are powered by algorithms, they allow users to
interact without human intervention, lowering transaction costs.
Just as a manufacturer in Germany finds the component it needs from a Chinese vendor on
Alibaba, the same kind of architecture can connect the small business in Ohio that needs a
logo with a graphic designer in Oregon. Companies that need temporary
help or a specific
kind of expertise they do not have in-house can turn to a digital platform to find it more easily.
Workers can land assignments more easily and market their services more widely than
ever before.
The notion that an Amazon, Facebook, or Google effect could take hold in the world of work
is a striking idea—not only in terms of the economics or the potential number of participants,
but in terms of how it could expand the options for earning a living. In Chapter 3, we discuss
the potential growth of digitally enabled independent work.
•••
Measuring the independent workforce is not a straightforward task, but our estimates
indicate that up to 162 million people in the United States and Europe engage in some
type of independent work. The sheer
numbers may seem surprising, and they point to the
possibility of a structural change in the labor market—one that has major ramifications for
policy makers, companies, and individuals alike. When more services can be obtained
outside of the traditional employee-employer relationship, our existing concepts of how
firms are organized and how individuals manage their careers could be subject to change.
To understand how this might play out, it is important to take a more nuanced look at
who participates in independent work and what motivates them. Chapter 2 will present
more detailed demographic results from our survey and paint
a clearer picture of how
independent workers feel about their choices.
MGI’s survey provides the most detailed view available to date on who participates in
independent work, how they do it, and why they do it.
The results call into question many of the popular myths associated with independent work.
It is not dominated by footloose millennials, nor is it solely a
story of low-income workers
trying to make ends meet. Independent earners span the full range of ages, skill levels,
and income brackets. Independent work is common in the construction trades, household
and personal services, and transportation. At the same time, it is preferred by many
professionals such as doctors, therapists, lawyers,
accountants, designers, and writers.
Nor is independent work solely a US phenomenon fueled by Silicon Valley. Our survey
found a striking degree of similarity in the prevalence and profiles of independent earners
across Europe.
Even more important, our survey reveals that most independent workers go this route as a
matter of preference rather than necessity. Roughly 70 percent of primary and supplemental
independent workers across all six survey countries, or some 113 million people, are
independent by choice. Perhaps most notable of all, these same workers expressed a high
degree of personal satisfaction in the lifestyle, flexibility, and autonomy associated with
independent work.
Still, a smaller yet still substantial segment has turned to independent work out of necessity.
Some of them would prefer a good traditional
job if they could find one, and some
supplemental earners wish they could make ends meet without picking up extra work on the
side. This issue has attracted a great deal of media coverage, raising the alarm that workers
are being forced out of good jobs and into low-wage, insecure arrangements, including
situations where they may be exploited. However, an increasing number of traditional
workers similarly face financial stress and a lack of job security, benefits, and career growth.
These issues are not confined to the independent workforce.
Against
a backdrop of digitization, automation, and a painfully slow recovery from the
recent economic crisis, there is widespread anxiety about the quality of jobs that will be
available—and the shift toward independent work is often regarded with concern as a
result. But our survey not only shows that most people are independent by choice; it also
shows that many people would prefer to leave behind structured traditional jobs to pursue
the flexibility,
satisfaction, and creativity of becoming their own boss. For many, the ability to
choose assignments and exert control over when and how they work is empowering. This
chapter will explore how various segments within the independent workforce feel about
their choices.
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