Independent work: choice, necessity, and the gig economy

SUPPLEMENTAL
INCOME
OUT OF
NECESSITY
PRIMARY INCOME
(millions)
(millions)
68
68
54%
46%
42%
72%
68%
28%
32%
58%
94
94
100%
BY CHOICE
THIS SEGMENTATION VARIES SLIGHTLY IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE EU-15
1
1 
Results from UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Sweden scaled up to EU-15.

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48
McKinsey Global Institute
2. Choice vs. necessity: Understanding the independent workforce 
Primary
By choice
Out of
necessity
Supplemental
FREE AGENTS
22 million 
|
 32%
RELUCTANTS
10 million 
|
 14%
FINANCIALLY 
STRAPPED
9 million 
|
 14%
CASUAL
EARNERS
27 million 
|
 40%
46%
54%
28%
72%
UNITED STATES
68 million independent workers
Primary
By choice
Out of
necessity
Supplemental
FREE AGENTS
4 million 
|
 32%
RELUCTANTS
2 million 
|
 12%
FINANCIALLY 
STRAPPED
2 million 
|
 14%
CASUAL
EARNERS
6 million 
|
 42%
44%
56%
26%
74%
UNITED KINGDOM
14 million independent workers
Primary
By choice
Out of
necessity
Supplemental
FREE AGENTS
4 million 
|
 29%
RELUCTANTS
1 million 
|
 10%
FINANCIALLY 
STRAPPED
3 million 
|
 21%
CASUAL
EARNERS
5 million 
|
 39%
39%
61%
32%
68%
FRANCE
13 million independent workers
Primary
By choice
Out of
necessity
Supplemental
FREE AGENTS
6 million 
|
 29%
RELUCTANTS
2 million 
|
 11%
FINANCIALLY 
STRAPPED
4 million 
|
 19%
CASUAL
EARNERS
9 million 
|
 42%
39%
61%
30%
70%
GERMANY
21 million independent workers
Primary
By choice
Out of
necessity
Supplemental
FREE AGENTS
1 million 
|
 33%
RELUCTANTS
<0.5 million 
|
 13%
FINANCIALLY 
STRAPPED
<0.5 million 
|
 13%
CASUAL
EARNERS
1 million 
|
 41%
46%
54%
26%
74%
SWEDEN
2 million independent workers
Primary
By choice
Out of
necessity
Supplemental
FREE AGENTS
3 million 
|
 26%
RELUCTANTS
3 million 
|
 22%
FINANCIALLY 
STRAPPED
2 million 
|
 20%
CASUAL
EARNERS
4 million 
|
 32%
48%
52%
42%
58%
SPAIN
12 million independent workers
SOURCE: McKinsey Global Institute survey. Numbers may not sum due to rounding. 

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McKinsey Global Institute
Independent work: Choice, necessity, and the gig economy
Casual earners are the largest segment in both the United States and Europe 
While some 32 million people in the United States earn their primary income from some 
form of independent work, supplemental earners constitute an even larger group (totaling 
36 million people, or 54 percent of all US independent workers). In the EU-15, this split is 
even wider. Some 40 million people work independently to earn their primary living, while 
54 million people (58 percent of all independent workers) do so for supplemental income.
The four groups of independent workers outlined above make up remarkably similar shares 
of the independent workforce in the United States and the European countries we surveyed 
(Exhibit 12). Casual earners, who do independent work on the side out of choice, make up 
the largest segment across all the countries we surveyed. They account for 40 percent of 
all US independent earners and 32 to 42 percent of European independent earners. Free 
agents are the second-largest group, accounting for just under one-third of independent 
workers in the United States and a quarter to one-third in Europe. The financially strapped 
and the reluctants are consistently the two smallest groups, accounting for 10 to 20 percent 
of the independent workforce each (depending on the country). 
Combining the financially strapped and the reluctants, we find that approximately a 
quarter of independent earners in the United States have turned to independent work out 
of necessity. While freelancing and side work are regarded as positives by the 49 million 
Americans who are independent by choice, it is important not to lose sight of the roughly 
19 million who want better options in the labor market but feel shut out of them. Their 
next-best alternative is most likely unemployment or lower living standards. Similarly, 
some 30 million Europeans are independent earners out of necessity. Spain stands out 
in this regard (with 42 percent of its independent workforce engaging out of necessity 
Exhibit 12
SOURCE: Eurostat; BLS; Katz and Krueger, 
The rise and nature of alternative work arrangements in the United States, 1995–2005
; McKinsey Global Institute 
analysis 
“Casual earners” are the largest segment of the independent workforce across all surveyed countries