The number of people choosing independent work surged to a record-breaking 34% during 2021, jumping from 38.2 million in 2020 to 51.1 million last year.
“An undercurrent that has been simmering reached a boiling point when people were forced out of the office and into alternative work arrangements,” said Miles Everson, CEO of MBO Partners, which gathered the data for its 2021 Annual State of Independence report. “This is the largest shift we have seen in the workforce in decades.”