Boulder, CO (PRWEB) September 05, 2017 -- Sept 5, 2017- According to a recent survey by FlexJobs, freelancers are more likely to report enjoying work than non-freelancers. To help freelancers explore the various opportunities in the freelance job marketplace and currently find jobs they enjoy, FlexJobs has identified the top 30 companies hiring freelancers.
From the survey, which ran between July 18 and July 31, 2017, 63% of 1,300+ freelancer respondents report working because they enjoy it, citing their enjoyment as a primary reason why they want and/or need to work, second only to paying for basic necessities (77%). This is compared with 54% of the 4,000 non-freelance survey respondent saying they work because they enjoy it, ranking it as their fifth reason to work. On a related note, 73% of freelancers also report both wanting and needing to work, compared to 64% in the general population who report both wanting and needing to work.
The freelance economy has grown to include 55 million Americans, which currently represents 35% of the total U.S. workforce. During this period of freelance growth, FlexJobs has also seen a wide variety of companies now hiring freelancers. The list below is based on an analysis of over 40,000 companies and looks specifically at their freelance job posting histories in FlexJobs’ database between the end of April and end of July 2017.
“Hearing that freelancers enjoy work on average more than their non-freelance counterparts is not that surprising,” said Sara Sutton Fell, Founder and CEO of FlexJobs. “There are many benefits to freelance work, including more autonomy over where, when, and how you can get your job done, as well as the ability to choose which projects they take on which can provide more control over the diversity of their projects and their overall workload. Freelance work can be empowering and provide more work flexibility--and better work-life balance--than many traditional arrangements,” Sutton Fell concluded.
The range of freelance job opportunities has grown astronomically in the past ten years and are available in far more industries than ever before. While the most common job categories for freelance jobs in the FlexJobs database include computer and IT, project management, accounting and finance, and administrative, there are plenty of opportunities for freelancers across other industries, as the list of companies below demonstrates. Pharmacist, veterinarian, and weather anchor are examples of current surprising freelance job listings.
Below are the top 30 companies with the most freelance job postings the last three months.
Kelly Services
Real Staffing
netPolarity
Creative Group
Kforce
Ajilon
ManpowerGroup
Day & Zimmerman
TEKsystems
Eagle
BBC Worldwide
Paladin
IFG - International Financial Group
Accenture
CyraCom
Modis
VocoVision
Dahl Consulting
Computer Futures
Hired by Matrix
Lannick Group
Accounting Principals
Vaco
Horizontal Integration
Clarity Consultants
AFIRM
Georgia Military College - GMC
On-Board Companies
Sunbelt Staffing
CBC Radio-Canada
Additional findings of FlexJobs’ survey on freelancers, conducted in late July 2017, include:
Demographics of Freelancers:
- Freelancers span generations: Gen Z (1 percent), Millennial/Gen Y (24%), Gen X (40%), Baby Boomer (30%), and the Silent Generation (5%)
- Highest level of school attained: high school degree or equivalent (3%), college but no degree (14%), associate degree (8%), a college degree (44%), and graduate degree (30%)
- Current career level: entry-level (11%), experienced (54%), manager (18%), and senior level manager (17%)
- Half of the freelancers in the survey had children and while half were not parents
Diverse Groups Benefit from Freelancing:
- Freelancers are twice as likely (42%) to identify as entrepreneurs as the respondents interested in all forms of flexible work
- One fifth of freelancers are digital nomads
- Nearly one third (28%) say they are introverts, 14% live in a rural area, and 12% are managing a chronic illness
How Many Gigs do Freelancers Have at Once?
- 38% reported having 1 gig at a time
- 51% juggled 2-3 gigs at a time
- 8% have 4-5 gigs at a time
- 3% have more than 6 gigs at a time
Why They Freelance
- Work-life balance (80%), time savings (52%), and commute stress (50%) are the top reasons freelancers seek flexible work
- Freelancers ranked flexible schedule (74%) and work-life balance (72%) as the most important factors when evaluating a job prospect, ahead of salary (69%)
- 43% have left a job because it did not offer work flexibility
- 35% of freelancers have had round-trip commutes of over two hours
- 98% of freelancers are interested in flexible work for their long-term career plans
- Only 3% of freelancers worry a lot that a flexible work arrangement will hurt their career progression
To see the full survey findings from over 5,000 workers, please visit FlexJobs’ 6th annual survey of more than 5,000 respondents or contact Kathy Gardner at kgardner(at)flexjobs.com.
About FlexJobs
FlexJobs is the leading online service for professionals seeking telecommuting, flexible schedule, part-time, and freelance jobs. With flexible job listings in over 50 career categories, and opportunities ranging from entry-level to executive and freelance to full-time, FlexJobs offers job seekers a safe, easy, and efficient way to find professional and legitimate flexible job listings. Having helped over two million people in their job searches, FlexJobs has appeared on CNN and Marketplace Money and in TIME, Forbes, Fortune, and hundreds of other trusted media outlets. FlexJobs' Founder & CEO Sara Sutton Fell has also launched two additional partner sites, Remote.co and 1 Million for Work Flexibility, to help provide education and awareness about the viability and benefits of remote working and work flexibility. Sutton Fell is also the creator of The TRaD* Works Forum (*Telecommuting, Remote, & Distributed), dedicated to helping companies leverage the benefits of telecommuting, remote and distributed teams.
Kathy Gardner, FlexJobs, http://www.flexjobs.com, +1 (203)253-9531, [email protected]
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