The US independent workforce — which includes consultants, freelancers, contractors, temporary and on-call workers — will rise to 47.8 million over the next five years, representing a 2.6% annual growth rate, according to MBO Partners’ new "2018 State of Independence in America report."

It also found that the total number of independent workers rose 2.2% this year to 41.8 million compared to last year. However, last month, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released a study of the contingent workforce, but its results differed from those of several other surveys conducted by various organizations.

In the MBO report, independent workers generated roughly $1.3 trillion of revenue in 2017. One in five full-time independents are “high-earning independents” who make more than $100,000.

Broad shifts driving this growth include businesses increasingly choosing contingent talent on a project basis; workers wanting autonomy, control and flexibility; workers increasingly needing supplemental work as wages stagnate and costs of living increase; and a growing support structure for independent workers. The 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act also provides a tax break for independent workers

Three key trends from this year’s study:

• High-earning independent workers making $100,000-plus now number 3.3 million. The improving economy is leading to more work and pricing power for highly skilled independents, especially for in-demand industries such as include IT, marketing and biotech/pharma. This is leading to the same bifurcation of earnings that’s occurring across the economy — workers with in-demand skills are experiencing increasing wages, while the wages of the less skilled are stagnating.
• Independent workers don’t fear automation taking their jobs. Asked to look 10 years down the road and assess how much of the work they currently do will be done by robots, machines or other types of automation technology, 55% of full-time independents say it would affect “none of the work I do,” compared with 44% of traditional employees. 
• More people are side-giggers to supplement stagnant wages. In 2018, the number of side-giggers, or occasional independents, rose 9.3% to 14.9 million from 12.9 million in 2017; this is a 34% increase from 10.5 million in 2016. On the whole, despite low unemployment, average hourly earnings rose just 2.6% between May 2017 and May 2018. 

“For the eighth year running, our research shows that engaging the independent workforce is increasingly an integral part of doing business, especially for large enterprises,” MBO Partners CEO Gene Zaino said.

MBO Partners provides back-office services for independent consultants and contractor management services for companies. For the 2018 study, Emergent Research and Rockbridge Associates conducted an online survey in March of 2018. This survey had responses from 3,584 adult residents of the US.