A majority of the US workforce will freelance by 2027, according to findings in the “Freelancing in America Study: 2017” released today by online staffing marketplace Upwork and the Freelancers Union. Other findings included: freelancers are more likely to take skills-related education than those that don’t freelance, and the term “gig economy” is not popular.

The study was based on an online survey of 6,000 adults in the US who have done paid work over the previous 12 months; it was conducted this summer by Edelman Intelligence. Of those surveyed, 36% were freelancers and 64% were nonfreelancers.

In one of the reports noteworthy findings, the number of workers in the US who freelance will become the majority, 50.9%, in 2027 compared to nonfreelancers given current growth trends.

The study defines freelancers as “individuals who have engaged in supplemental, temporary, project- or contract-based work within the past 12 months.” Nonfreelancers are “individuals who earned income through work but have not engaged in supplemental, temporary, project- or contract-based work, within the past 12 months.”

Another top finding: Freelancers were more likely to upskill than nonfreelancers: 55% of freelancers took part in skill-related education in the last six months compared to 30% of nonfreelancers.

And the term “gig economy” was not well-liked. Instead, 49% of freelancers preferred the term “freelance economy.” It was followed by the “on-demand economy” at 25% and the “sharing economy” at 13%. “Gig economy” was preferred by only 10%.

Other findings:

• 57.3 million people freelanced this year.
• The freelance workforce grew at a rate three times faster than the US workforce overall since 2014.
• 54% of the US workforce is not very confident that the work they do today is likely to exist in 20 years.
• AI and robotics: 49% of full-time freelancers indicate their work has already been affected by AI and robotics compared to only 18% full-time nonfreelancers.
• Most freelancers, 59%, started freelancing within the last three years.
• Younger freelancers are driving the acceleration in freelancing. The survey found 47% of those ages 18 to 34 freelanced in this year compared to 38% in 2014. The nine-point difference is the highest among all age group, and the percentage of freelancers fell among those ages 45 and up.
• 69% strongly agreed or somewhat agreed that perceptions of freelancing as a career are becoming more positive in this year’s study compared to 63% last year.
• More people are freelancing by choice with 63% of freelancers doing so by choice in 2017 compared to 53% in 2014.

“We are in the Fourth Industrial Revolution — a period of rapid change in work driven by increasing automation, but we have a unique opportunity to guide the future of work and freelancers will play more of a key role than people realize,” said Stephane Kasriel, CEO of Upwork and co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Council on the Future of Gender, Education and Work.

“Professionals who choose to freelance make this choice knowing that, as their own boss, they are in control of their destiny,” Kasriel said. “Freelancers therefore think more proactively about market trends and refresh their skills more often than traditional employees, helping advance our economy.”