At Rockbridge, we have seen a trend over the years with more individuals wanting freedom and control over their career, which has led to more people choosing freelance work. Our collaborative Freelance Economic Impact Report with Fiverr reveals that freelancers in the U.S. earned an estimated $286 billion in 2022 and feel financially secure with pursuing independent work despite economic uncertainty. The fastest growing markets for professionals and revenue include Austin, Nashville, Orlando, Charlotte, Phoenix, Tampa and Dallas. Bloomberg reports on some of the many findings in the study below:
Out of all freelance work, professional services outrank all other areas of work by population and revenue
- Independent professionals offering professional services such as legal, accounting, and consulting are feeling more confident about their job security and are seeing an increase in demand. 45% of those offering professional services are more likely to report increasing their rates as a result of increased demand, and those who charge by the hour are on average earning more than those offering technical or creative services ($103 an hour on average). In the top 30 markets, professional services comprise the largest share of skilled independent workers and their revenues, at half the workers (50%) and nearly half the revenues (47%) estimated for 2022.
Sunbelt havens continue to be among the top destinations for freelance work
- Over half a million independent workers are thriving in sundrenched markets like Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Phoenix, and have earned an estimated $24.3 billion in 2022, and have a higher than average proportion of those offering professional services. Individually, Miami ranks #3 by population and revenue for independent workers, and has seen over 30% growth in revenue and nearly 15% growth in population since 2020.
Women see a clear advantage to freelancing over traditional employment
- This year’s report reveals that women are pursuing freelance work for a number of reasons, including that they prefer to work from home (41% versus 31% men), want more flexibility in their schedule (39% versus 22% men), feel burned out (25% versus 17% men), want to avoid an unpleasant or toxic work environment (26% versus 15% men), and experience a lack of enjoyment in their work (22% versus 13% men).
Learn more on our work with the Workforce Economy Research sector here