Upwork Freelance Forward Report 2021
The past two years have ushered in monumental change for the labor market, but a constant remains: freelancing. We’ve seen evidence of this over the past year, with a surge in new business registrations and self-employment reaching its highest point in over a decade. Upwork’s 2021 Freelance Forward survey confirms the finding. In fact, excluding temporary workers, freelancing increased to the highest share of the labor force in the eight years that we have been surveying.
Overall, the percent freelancing in 2021 remained constant at 36% of the U.S. workforce, but the past year ushered in a shift in the type of freelance work being done. This year, we found that there was a drop in temporary workers, but an increase in skilled freelancing. That freelancing overall has not grown is due to a decline among temp work and less freelancing among the least educated. Skilled freelancing, in contrast, continues to grow, and as a result those with the most education are freelancing more than ever.
But what is driving the growth of this specific type of freelancing that we see in both this survey and other data sources? Why do people freelance, and how is it working for them? This report explains the unique value that freelancing provides and why it is so important, particularly for remote skilled freelancers.