The Gig Force

GIG Economy

When Did the Freelance Economy Boomed and Why?

When Did the Freelance Economy Boomed and Why?
Author Swati Gupta

BY Swati Gupta

Feb 7, 2018

The freelance word came into the existence when young generation started hating their 9-5 jobs. The routine work of sitting in front of the system and updating some spreadsheets became monotonous for the millennial’s and many individuals started to do something on their own. This was the time when the word “Freelance” was widely spread among everyone who was looking for the satisfaction in terms of money & jobs both.

However, earlier Architects, Engineers, Charted Accountants and other highly skilled professionals were engage in freelance through drafting work, designing of blocks and so on. But, since it was traditional, it was never noticed in a bigger screen.

When the corporate professionals left their regular jobs & started promoting themselves as an individual, the freelance economy boomed the most. In a precise tone, the definition of a freelancer is someone who is entitled to work on a project/requirement based on the pre-determined wages agreed upon by both the parties.

Looking down at the telecom industry, the businesses face a challenging role to hire full-time engineers as they cannot utilize them to the utmost because of the nature of the work. The project requirement varies and thus hiring a full-time telecom engineer doesn’t make any sense. To this, online freelance sites such as FieldEngineer.com comes to rescue for remote employment opportunities. Fieldengineer.com helps businesses to outsource projects at a fraction of the cost.

How Freelance Economy has changed the Lives of Individuals –

With the rise of freelance economy, the way we look at the individuals has been changed now. These individuals are now their own boss. The days have gone when people use to restrict themselves to work as a freelancer. The gig economy is in demand and one thing that has fueled the trend is the exposure of the freelancer’s requirement on a bigger page.

One of the biggest hurdles is to find the right platform that suits an individual what they are looking for. For example, to ease the burden of businesses who are into telecom domain, they can directly land to fieldengineer.com and hire engineers for freelance, remote and part-time projects. This cuts down the barrier of extra cost on recruitment and the payment is done once the project is completed.

Pro Tips to Start a Career as a Freelancer –

The gig economy has created tons of opportunities that are industry-specific. Few tips to look when you are diving into freelance jobs online –

  • Create an eye-grabbing profile that defines your skills & niche.
  • Mention your past work experience, certification, and achievements.
  • Attach your case-study, work sample, pdf or other materials.
  • Describe what is unique about you & your working style.
  • Mention the type of work you are looking for and how much is your rate/hour.

The key success to the growth of individual freelancers lies in the skill of networking. According to the recent data, it has been seen that about 34% workers find their freelance jobs online through referrals.

The Future of Freelancing –

There is a steep rise in freelance economy or gig economy, the businesses and the users are embracing the contingent workforce over traditional or salaried jobs. The global freelance marketplace is able to reduce the expenses of the companies in terms of employee benefits, office space, and commuting costs. And, the individuals have opted this new type of work due to multiple reasons: work from home facility, diverse opportunities, increased income, and more flexibility.

The freelance economy is expanding as the number of gigs are growing. It has been observed that gig economy will produce a whopping 3.2 to 7.6 million freelancers/independent workers in the United States by the year 2020.

Summing Up –

The independent workers have killed the 9-5 job and are working part-time for full-time income. There can be many reasons for the rise of freelance economy, from employee dissatisfaction to low salary and not paid for overtime. And, the freelance marketplace has paved the path to advanced opportunities which traditional jobs could not.

Freelancing has become a new norm and is booming like never before. But, the competition is also high than regular 9-5 jobs.

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