Freelance Forward 2022

Upwork has released its annual Freelance Forward 2022 report about the current state of the U.S. freelance economy.

As usual, they used a super-wide definition of freelance work, counting anyone who has “engaged in supplemental, temporary, project- or contract-based work within the past 12 months” as a freelancer. Yes, including diversified workers with more jobs and full-time employees with tiny gigs. All of these categories combined made up 39% of the U.S. workforce. Other estimates focused on full-time freelancers and qualified independent professionals are way lower.

However, some reported findings are remarkable. Here are the highlights:

• 43% of freelancers raised their rates during the past year due to professional experience (39%), economic conditions (37%), their services being in higher demand (36%), and to keep up with competitive rates (34%)
• 51% provide knowledge services such as computer programming, marketing, IT, and business consulting
• 77% feel optimistic for the coming year about their personal income and salary increase
• 83% freelance “to earn extra money” (perhaps on top of other income as noted above)
• 91% believe the best days are ahead for freelancing 💙

P.S. Find out more about the taxonomy of freelance work in last year’s talk European Freelancers & Where to Find Them.

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