Today, more people are finding themselves employed in short term, ad hoc positions and it’s having a huge impact. Not only has this new sector of the workforce continued to grow, the growth rate is actually outpacing the U.S. economy as a whole.
The inaugural PYMNTS Gig Economy Index™ in collaboration with Hyperwallet launched this week to shed light on the people working these gigs and why, as well as insights into the growing number of companies employing them. The Index collected hundreds of thousands of data points to fill important gaps in understanding on this growing part of our economy that no one, including the government, is measuring.
The data will be analyzed to help gain a better understanding of who gig employees are, the services they provide within this economy and the percentage of their overall income the gigs represent. More than 1,000 gig employees were surveyed about their experience working in the economy, why they did it, how they were paid and their plans for the future.
Here are the numbers:
9.4 million | The number of new workers the gig economy gained from 2005 to 2015.
50 percent | The growth rate of the gig economy over a ten-year span.
40 percent | The percentage of gig employees who said they receive 40 percent or more of their income from gig economy jobs
23 percent | The number of 18-to-24-year-olds currently working a gig
$2.7 trillion | The expected amount the gig economy will contribute to the GDP by 2025
