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5 Reasons Why Freelancers Create a Global Impact in Economics

Fiverr released a new Freelance Economic Impact Report for 2019. The company surveyed over 5.6 million independent skilled workers residing in the U.S. to gauge the state of their affairs. To estimate their salaries, socio-economic background, and the most profitable freelance markets, they collaborated with professionals working at niches of creative, technical, and professional services throughout the country.

The reports concluded that 54% of skilled talent lives on the top 25 metropolitan areas covering across the U.S., and most data was acquired in regards to those locations. Below, you will find some key insights into the current independent economy that both freelancers and their employers should take note of.

5 Reasons Why Freelancers Create a Global Impact in Economics

1. With technology, Freelancers can work remotely. 

The freelance economy develops at a break-neck speed and drives positive changes at the individual as well as at the social level. As it continues to grow, the impact on local and global markets should be expected to be even more tangible.

As you can see, two-thirds of the top 25 freelancer markers are more diverse than the U.S. as a whole. San Jose, Los Angeles, and Miami received high rankings, while Minneapolis, Portland, and Boston are at the tail.

Indeed, online freelance platforms have created a unique employment field where location, gender, ethnicity, age, or background are not an issue. The skills and talents are the keys to this field. Employers are actively tapping into the newly emerged opportunity to connect with a variety of different people to exchange ideas and hire the expertise they need.

2. Freelancers are in-demand in the global market 

Fiverr reports a 14% increase in the number of independent professional workers in all 25 markets from 2011 to 2016, with some regions reporting considerably higher quantities. In Austin and Nashville, for example, the freelance population increased over the period studied by over 20%.

A 2017 study by Upwork indicated that the majority (50%) of US staff would be freelancers by 2030. However, the recent results from Fiverr show that this can occur faster in the top 25 markets in which free work is rising at an increased rate for skilled freelancers.

Large metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago are now home bases to most freelancers, smaller cities like Austin, TX, Nashville, TN, Orlando, FL, Portland, OR are experiencing a significant boost in freelance growth rates.

3. Freelancers boost local economics

As it is now often called, the freelance revolution transforms not just the private sector but the public too. The results from Fiverr indicate that qualified freelancers in the 25 largest US markets are paid over $135 billion in a cumulative paycheck of 1-2% of GDP in certain areas.

But beyond replenishing the local treasuries, freelancers are also driving significant societal changes. As major urban areas become crowded and costly to live in, more and more digital workers are re-settling to smaller rural communities, reversing the notorious brain drain those locales experienced over the past decade.

Also, the freelance population is having a significant impact on the real estate markets, encouraging developers like Novel Coworking to create spaces more suited to their needs – co-working, co-living, and co-housing.

4. “Professional services” are booming 

Around 50% of skilled freelancers work in specialized professional services, such as consulting, management, legal, video editing, browser push notification advertising, marketing, and educational services. Detroit, Houston, and Miami have the highest percentage of the independent workforce operating in this domain.

Approximately a quarter of the freelancers are composed of technical service providers (developers, data scientists, designers), with the vast majority of professionals working in large-tech and financial centers such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

The smallest freelance niche as of this moment is creative (artists, video producers), with only 1 out of 5 skilled independent workers working in the field. These are also the most densely concentrated geographical sub-niches. Four in ten creative services providers live in either New York or Los Angeles.

5. Freelancers received pays equal or more than the traditional paychecks. 

An independent worker generates an average revenue of $36,438 across the U.S. As a reference, the latest dat from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that, depending on their age, full-time salary workers earn the following median salary:

16 to 24 years – $579 weekly/$30,108 annually

25 to 34 years – $815 weekly/$42,380 annually

Freelancers, who are earning six-figures per year or more, are no longer exceptions either. In 2018 over 3.3 million self-employed workers in the USA earned $100,000 or more, which is according to another study carried out by MBO Partners.

Wrap up

Freelancers are now changing the concept of work from being in a corporate or office setting to a homebased or remote setting. Barjunaid Cadir is one of the students who tried freelancing and succeed in his venture. He’s a student who made his way to establish a small agency that helps businesses in their day-to-day business. By profession, Barjunaid Cadir is a Public-School Teacher in the Philippines from 2012 to 2015. He left his teaching career last 2015 and pursue his post-graduate course abroad. Since Barjunaid Cadir struggles financially, he took the time to learn the idea of working remotely and learn freelancing skills that he can use in his venture. To cut the story short, the number of his clients grew over time that he needs a small team to run his business. So, he started to hire 2 members to join his venture. Currently, he is managing five heads in his team. He’s the Editor-in-Chief of The Weekly Trends Magazine that features news and other trending stories. He is making his way of building a small VA online university (theVAsity) for aspiring individuals who wish to learn how to start their venture as a Freelancer.

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What do you think?

Written by Barjunaid Cadir

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  1. At a minimum, everyone who pays taxes in any way creates a gross domestic product. But the situation with freelance employees differs in different countries, so not everywhere this group is quite influential in the economic sector

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