This article is one that will expose a lot of beneficial secrets in the gig economy for every freelancer to supplement their income. Hopefully you are ready for them. 

Freelancing has taken over from the traditional 9-5 job market. And every creative professional is putting in an effort to break the saturation in the gig economy. 

There are freelance platforms and marketplace where you can learn how to start your career as a freelancer, such as Udemy, Teachable, Coursera, and even get a worthy paying job from the likes of Upwork, Fiverr, Toptal etc. 

Artificial technology, improved technology and web protocols have been playing a major role in the existence of freelancing and how freelance business management works. 

According to Upwork, one of the top digital markets for freelancers, there is going to be an estimated 86.5 million freelancers globally. Of course that is a lot but we are obviously getting really close. 

In fact, on a demand level, companies are now hiring freelancers to complete their jobs instead of relying on the traditional white collar workers. Probably because freelancing saves time, money and helps in direct output. 

Either way, we still got alot to talk about. The gig economy of freelancers. It’s high time we get into them. 

What is Gig Economy?

The Gig Economy is characterized by freelancing and the digital contract work offered by companies to freelancers under the existence of an agreement. 

It can be described as the labour market for independent creatives or employees looking to offer their service on a contract form or short term commitment. 

First of all, the gig Economy does not consist of freelancers alone. There are other categories of workers including independent contractors, part time hires. 

The gig economy has been around for a while until the time of pandemic, which turned people into finding jobs via another method. And since work is increasingly performed remotely and independent workers are becoming more mobile and used to technology every now and then, the gig economy continues to gain its height. 

Top 6 Potential Benefits of The Gig Economy 

The gig Economy has a lot to be proud of. Coming from the lifestyle of a lot of freelancers and stakeholders in the gig economy, I can say this is a lot beneficial and flexible. Let’s run through the benefits 

1. Flexibility       

Nothing can compare how flexible a working environment can be. It ensures a pliable, smart and realistic business and working experience for everyone to enjoy. The flexibility still dives into time management and project execution. 

Come to think of it, the gig economy is not like the office market where workers would rather spend time discussing than working. Also, workers in the gig economy can set their closing and opening hours once they are able to beat the amount of jobs they look forward to. 

Yes, when it comes to the aspect of the law gig workers also have a flexible aim as much as the traditional labour market. 

2. Legals

At the end of the first part, we got into the part of legality and law and how gig workers can have a say too just like the workers in the labour market. However, we didn’t expantiate, so let’s do. 

The gig market is really easy to get into, once you have a proof of work. And the funniest thing, you don’t have to have an age limit or anything before you start working in the gig market. 

Is this a good thing? Yes to some extent. Yet, there are discrepancies around this especially the legal parastatals. A client can just hire a person without any primary information about them, which is an essential part of a legal hiring process.

3. Saving Cost

The internet is the driving rail for the gig economy. For freelancers and independent workers to access the internet they would need internet, social profile, gadgets etc. Yet, all this doesn’t measure up to the average gas fee of traditional workers not to talk of other costs incurred when attending to labour. 

According to a research from Upwork, 44% of freelancers claim they make more money than they would for a traditional employer and obviously save more since they would be incurring lower cost. 

4. High Quality Work

On a client basis, the gig economy is characterized by high quality work unlike the traditional labour market. Reason being that for a particular position of a freelancer, there are intense competitions, in which freelancers can be dropped and replaced anytime. 

Hence what? Freelancers are most at the highest motivation of quality work. In fact, that’s the main thing they vent for.  

5. Increase in Job Creation 

Telecommuting is an aspect of the world that has created lots of jobs for people out there. People can now reach out to customers and clients in other countries without even the need to move an inch. 

This is something strange in the traditional labour market. There are now more jobs circulating on the internet than what we used to have in the labour market. Hence, there is space for everybody to work with. 

Conclusion 

The gig economy is expected to be valued close to $500 billion looking at what the market is already saying. A reason why you should get into these industries as soon as possible especially if you are an esteemed independent creative. 

Funny enough, according to mbo partners, 21% of full-time independent contractors make over $100,000 per month which is quite encouraging to junior workers going into the industry. Also, even if you are already used to the traditional white collar economy, you can still take your own portion in the gig economy.