Independent work: choice, necessity, and the gig economy

Earners
Providing services
Selling goods
Leasing assets
Uber
Upwork
Etsy
Airbnb
Mean age
41
36
39
1
42
Female
%
14
47
86
57
Education (tertiary)
%
48
74
56
84
Primary income
%
40
45
30
7
1 Mean age is provided for Uber, Upwork, and Airbnb; however only median age was available for Etsy.
Exhibit 20
The profile of Uber drivers varies across countries
SOURCE: Landier, Szomoru, and Thesmar, 
Working in the on-demand economy: An analysis of Uber driver-partners in France
; Hall and Krueger, 
An analysis 
of the labor market for Uber’s driver-partners in the United States
; McKinsey Global Institute analysis
United States
France
Age
1.7x
3.4x
More likely to be under age 40 
than traditional 
taxi drivers
Education
2.5x
1.2x
More likely to have a college degree 
than 
traditional taxi drivers
Unemployment history
(%)
8
25
Were unemployed before 
driving for Uber
Role of income
(%)
40
71
Share of driver partners who state 
Uber is their 
largest source of income

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62
McKinsey Global Institute
2. Choice vs. necessity: Understanding the independent workforce 
Digital platforms for independent work, and particularly those for labor services, are still 
in the early stages of their development. Only 6 percent of the independent workers in our 
survey reported ever having found work through an on-demand digital platform, although 
adoption is higher in the United States (8 percent) than the EU-15 (4 percent). More research 
will be necessary to establish their true impact on the desirability of independent work once 
they reach higher penetration. 
•••
The growth of independent work has left some commentators cheering for greater worker 
autonomy and others bemoaning the breakdown of the traditional social contract between 
employers and employees. But the reality lies somewhere in the middle. Individuals make 
the decision to undertake independent work by considering their own personal calculus of 
choice, need, and opportunity cost, balancing the risks and the rewards against the options 
available to them.

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63
McKinsey Global Institute
Independent work: Choice, necessity, and the gig economy
© Burke/Triolo Productions/Getty Images

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64
McKinsey Global Institute
2. Choice vs. necessity: Understanding the independent workforce 
© Thomas Barwick/Getty Images

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Just as the Industrial Revolution changed the predominant working models of the day, the 
digital revolution is altering the nature of work. Today only 15 percent of the independent 
workforce has earned income through digital matching platforms, but these online 
marketplaces could eventually facilitate a larger share of independent work. Given the 
network effects of digital platforms in areas such as e-commerce, they hold significant 
potential for the future—not only for achieving larger scale, but also for bringing efficiency 
and transparency to markets for individual services. Digital innovators may also devise ways 
to deliver new types of services, widening the options available for independent workers to 
earn income and generating more consumer surplus. 
Wholly apart from this ongoing digital transformation, we see several factors that could fuel 
growth in the independent workforce. First and foremost is the sheer number of people 
who are not currently independent but would like to be. Many respondents in the MGI 
survey—both people in traditional jobs and those who are currently not working—say they 
would prefer the chance to be their own bosses. If everyone had the opportunity to pursue 
their preferred working style, roughly 40 to 50 percent of the working-age population in 
the United States and the EU-15 would be independent. Second, we see the possibility 
of sufficient demand from both organizations and consumers for services provided by 
individual workers, based on an occupational analysis and the possibility of converting a 
small share of currently unpaid household chores to paid work. While we did not generate 
detailed labor market projections, we do see significant potential for growth in the 
independent workforce. But some of the hurdles facing independent workers will have to be 
addressed in order to make this shift a feasible and positive development—a topic we will 
turn to in Chapter 4.