As per the statistics, nearly 16 million US citizens were self employed by mid of 2015. The statistics further claim that there is a significant rise in the number of self employed individuals in USA at a steady rate. Within four more years (i.e. by twenty-twenty), more than two fifth of the entire workforce will be working on their own. Interestingly, a significant portion of these self employers will work as freelancers.
It has now become a trend that most of the talented and skillful professionals prefer to work on their own – mostly as freelancers. High end professionals like attorneys, CMOs, and particularly the consultants that possess international qualifications and exposure now prefer to work on ‘per gig’ or contact basis other than working on fixed terms.
The reasons for individuals to get into freelancing are vary; varying economic conditions, unsatisfactory working conditions and willingness to be the own boss are among the main reasons. Here are the main reasons that tolerate qualified professionals to become freelancers.
– Introduction of sophisticated freelancer market places
Unlike earlier days where freelancers were hard to find the right kind of exposure, modern technology facilitates qualified individuals to meet a large range of potential buyers from all over the world. The communication between the buyers and sellers has become exceptionally via these platforms; they also allow sellers to portray their profiles and professionalism. Accessing these market places can be done via PCs, tablets or Smartphones as far as you are connected to internet. Some of the platforms are dedicated to match specific skills and clients with respective needs can easily distinguish their service provider from the rest of the freelancers.
On the other hand, from the freelancers’ perspective, they can select the perfect platform that brings potential clients and expect better responses. Under general circumstances, freelancers may find it challenging to get enough work on daily basis, but when using a dedicated platform, they can overcome this burden quite effectively.
Some platforms allow clients (businesses) to compare the profiles of the professionals (consultants for instance) and decide the best match. So, the better the profile the better the response would be.
– Introduction of co-working spaces
One of the biggest downsides you would face when you work independently is the feeling of isolation. However, modern society has an effective response to this; there are various co-working spaces in main city areas offering freelancers great assistance together with necessary resources.
In fact, these co-working spaces are not just the communities. They facilitate the freelancers with a collaborative ambiance in order to uplift the productivity.
Apart from the co-working spaces, the internet itself provides various resources for freelancers and encourages them. The availability of resources like latest strategies (regardless the industry), various tools (software packages etc) and tutorials have made freelancers so confident over the past couple of years.
The future of freelancing is undoubtedly bright. Within a decade, a major portion of workforces across the globe will be freelancers as per the predictions of economic experts. Basically, we are heading towards a gig economy.
