Why the Gig Economy is Booming

Since 2015, the gig economy has doubled, and it is expected that 50% of Americans will have been involved in gig work at some point by 2027. A big percentage of this growth (33%, in fact) came out of the COVID pandemic in 2020. This huge growth meant that the gig economy grew 8.25x faster than the US economy on the whole. 

Of course, statistics during the height of the pandemic naturally led to this outcome as joblessness rose to 14% and 59% of freelancers experienced a drop in income. Twelve percent of the US working-age population joined the gig economy for the first time. 

Joblessness or loss of income obviously isn’t the only reason why gig work skyrocketed. The demand for services also played a huge role as things like delivery services became a necessity rather than a luxury. With nation-wide lockdowns, restaurants only providing takeout, and surging fears of catching the virus, delivery services have become one of the fastest growing gig vertices. Economist project delivery gig work to reach a value of $200 billion within the next 4 years. 

The gig economy overall, is expected to keep expanding at a steady rate as things like home services, general labor, animal services, computer services, and more, are increasing in demand and, already, 34% of Americans are involved in gig work.

How The Global Pandemic Transformed The Gig Economy
Source: WageDev.com