Recent reports indicate that the gig economy continues to grow and predicts that 60% of the U.S. workforce will consist of independent workers by 2027.

One of the primary reasons workers are choosing to take on gig work is because of the flexibility and independence that gig employment offers, according to an article by Small Business Trends. The article also states that by 2025, online platforms like LinkedIn and Uber could increase worldwide employment by 72 million, add $2.7 trillion to the global GPD and impact 10% of the global labor force through full-time employment or as supplemental income. 

Small Business Trends goes on to estimate that independent workers will make up 60% of the workforce by 2027. 

"After leaving a job on Capitol Hill to start a nonprofit in 2015, I turned to Uber to cover basic financial needs," Caleb Paxton, a driver from Alexandria, Virginia, told Washington D.C. Business Daily about driving for the gig economy. "The ability to set my own schedule made it a good fit for balancing all of my professional demands."

The gig economy grew by 33% in 2020 alone, and had doubled in the preceding six years, according to Wagedev.com. This calculates to 8.25 times faster than the U.S. economy as a whole. Of those surveyed, 74% say they love having greater flexibility, 70% said they are paid more than their peers working traditional jobs and 58% reported having a better quality of life all while working less than 30 hours per week. Four of five companies also plan on hiring more gig workers post-pandemic with 50% stating they have already done so. 

"Independent gig workers (such as online platform workers and independent contractors) experience high levels of work-life balance, flexibility, autonomy, meaningful feedback and creative freedom. In fact, they score much higher on all these factors compared with traditional workers and other types of gig workers," a 2018 Gallup poll stated. The poll also found that 64% of gig workers reported preferring their alternative work arrangement as compare to traditional work. 

According to MBO Partners, 59% of male gig workers and 74% of female freelancers say they enjoy working independently because of the flexibility this type of work offers. Freelance statistics show that the majority of independent workers aim to stay independent. MBO also reports that 54% of men and 43% of women earn more money working as freelancers. 

A survey by Bunny Studio in 2020 of 20% of Bunny Pro workers found that at the time of the article, 97% of freelance workers had planned for long-term gig work and 85% of the workers surveyed had been doing gig work for more than five years.

Forbes reports that in 2019, approximately 57 million gig workers in the U.S were a part of the economy, which is more than one third, or 36%, of the U.S's population. Statista estimates that there will be 86.5 million freelancers by 2027. 

Of gig workers, 75.7% would not leave gig work if offered a full-time job, according to PYMNTS.