Independent work: choice, necessity, and the gig economy

Choice appears to be a critical determinant of satisfaction in an individual’s 
working life 
There is a large difference in satisfaction levels between those who engage in each type 
of work by choice and those who do so out of economic necessity. Not surprisingly, those 
who work in either style because they feel their circumstances have forced them into it 
report much lower levels of satisfaction. Those who are in either traditional or independent 
work out of necessity averaged just 4.3 ratings for overall work-life satisfaction, compared 
with 4.9 for free agents and 4.6 for traditional workers who choose to be in traditional jobs 
(Exhibit 15). 
To compensate for variations in demographic and socioeconomic mix within each group, we 
validated the differences in raw averages through a multiple regression analysis controlling 
for household income, age, and the country of the respondent. We found the results to be 
robust to differences in the population mix, indicating that some people perceive inherent 
value in being independent.
These findings echo a large body of academic work pointing to the importance of choice, 
autonomy, and self-agency as key drivers of worker satisfaction.
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 While most of these 
studies have looked at the importance of allowing employees more autonomy and 
flexibility in the traditional workplace, their findings resonate when we consider the appeal 
of independent work for millions of people. One annual study tracking US independent 
workers has found their satisfaction growing over time; in the most recent survey, roughly 
60 percent of respondents singled out control over their schedule and not answering to a 
boss as the best aspects.
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 Some 43 percent of respondents in a survey conducted across 
40 countries reported that they would like to be self-employed; autonomy and flexibility 
outweighed income prospects in every country.
45
 
42
  Survey questions regarding satisfaction were asked of respondents who provide labor services. Those who 
earn by selling goods or renting assets were asked a more limited subset of questions. But since these are 
small groups and 85 percent of respondents in these categories also provide labor services, these questions 
excluded only a limited number of total survey respondents.
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  See, for example, Frederick Herzberg, Bernard Mausner, and Barbara Bloch Snyderman, 
The motivation 
to work
, John Wiley & Sons, 1959; Paul P. Baard, Edward L. Deci, and Richard M. Ryan, “Intrinsic need 
satisfaction: A motivational basis of performance and well-being in two work settings,” 
Journal of Applied 
Social Psychology
, volume 34, issue 10, October 2004; Sonja Kähkönen, 
Exploring knowledge worker 
motivation in autonomous and interdependent problem-solving tasks on virtual platforms
, 2016; and Daniel H. 
Pink, 
Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us
, Riverhead Books, 2011. 
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State of independence in America
 reports, MBO Partners, 2011–16. 
45
  David Blanchflower, 
Flexibility@work 2015: Self-employment across countries in the Great Recession of 
2008–2014
, Dartmouth College and Randstad, May 2015.

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McKinsey Global Institute
2. Choice vs. necessity: Understanding the independent workforce 
Giving workers a greater range of viable job choices would therefore seem to be an 
important way to improve the quality of life for the labor force as a whole. On the one 
hand, our survey suggests that 53 million traditional workers and 49 million independent 
workers are in situations that do not match their preference across the United States and 
the EU-15. Creating a wider range of opportunities and better mechanisms for matching 
individuals to the specific opportunities that suit them could have a marked impact on 
workforce satisfaction.
On the other hand, almost 113 million independent earners and 189 million traditional 
workers in the United States and the EU-15 are already engaged in the type of work they 
prefer. The focus for this group should be on improving the sustainability and security 
associated with those choices.