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Research Outline

Prepared for Chen O. | Delivered August 25, 2020

Gig Economy Work Space

Goals

To understand the gig economy marketplaces (supply-driven markets like Fiverr) in content localization to define an expansion startegy.

Early Findings

  • The biggest marekts to date (top growing markets in the past year or so ): Technology has made it easier for individuals to boost earnings with profitable side-gigs. While U.S. workers of all ages are reaping the greatest rewards, young freelancers in Asia are quickly getting stepping into the gig economy.
  •  Gig economy research reveals that, in the past four years, the commitment of companies to build a flexible workforce has increased by 155%.
  • Gig economy space statistics: The worldwide gig economy reached $4.5 trillion in estimated spending in 2018., 36% of America's workforce takes part in the gig economy, U.S. freelancers earn the most globally, With a 24% share, India leads the global gig economy market, full-time independent workers added $1.28 trillion to the US economy in 2018, the number of freelance jobs increased by 67% in the US from 2018–2019, AI developers were the highest-paid freelancers at $115/hour (2018), the gender pay gap is wider among gig workers, 69% of temporary workers fear the lack of medical, dental, and disability benefits, and 34% of gig economy workers do not have retirement savings.
  • JLL Consulting in New York- by 2020 gig workers will comprise half the workforce, and as much as 80% by 2030. The future Liquid Workforce will be organized via crowdsourced “uber-like” cloud based work platforms providing greater workforce and workplace efficiency.
  • Approximately 70 million people across the globe use online platforms to find remote work (2018). The share of freelance workers from other generations was estimated at 40% for millennials, 31% for Gen Xers, and 29% for baby boomers, with 70% of full-time freelancers undertook 6 months of skills training in comparison to 49% of full-time non-freelancers.
  • The usage of online labor platforms is growing with an annual increase rate of 26% and $4.5 trillion in global spending with $126.3 billion spent on human cloud. The U.S. accounted for 65% of total B2B human cloud spend (2018), followed by the region of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) spending around 21%, and the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) accouting for 14% of the global spending.
  • In 2019, approximately $7.8 billion was spent on B2B human cloud transactions, while IT and creative job categories accounted for 75% of the amount- 18 countries were responsible for 90% of the global spend on temporary work agencies per type of contingent worker; B2B human cloud growth increased by 22% year-over-year.
  • Top 10 countries as of year-end 2019: America’s gig economy saw the greatest growth at 78%, U.K. 59%, Brazil, 48%, Pakistan 47%, Ukraine 36%, Phillipines 35%, india 29%, Bangladesh 27%, Russia 20%, Serbia 19%.
  • Based on the annual revenue growth, the US is the most freelance-friendly with one of the fastest-growing markets- more than 300,000 freelance workers with earnings going up by 78% on a year-by-year basis. Highly educated individuals aged 25 and over are the most likely to be working from home. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a report stating 41.7% of the remote employees have an advanced degree, and at least 53% have a bachelor’s degree. In 2020, it is estimated US workers participating in the gig economy will increase to 43%, more than 90% of US workers would consider freelancing or independent contracting work, and only 35% of America’s self-employed are female (California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois offer the best opportunities for remote workers).
  •  Asia recorded the greatest regional growth, with earnings up 138% across four countries, led by Pakistan which saw a 47% increase in freelancer revenues in 2019.
  • The top 5 markets to start selling in/expending to: North Carolina-based procurement intelligence firm Beroe, Inc- the global market for temporary labor (currently valued at $463.1 Bn) is expected to grow at CAGR of 3-4% until 2020, with major revenue growth in places like China, Italy, France, Sweden, and India.
  • Top 3 lines of service in the content localization field: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) includes: arts and design; computer and information technology; construction and extraction; media and communications; and transportation and material moving. Transportation, warehousing, and other services made up 60% of the gig economy growth, followed by real estate, rental services, and leasing (2019).
  • Top content/localization services trends (2020): widespread automation will drastically change the tasks companies delegate to contractors as well as how contractors complete that work, top executives will get in the game by offering expertise to companies across the globe, stigmas will slip away (members of the gig economy may be seen as driven self-starters to a degree that traaditional workers are not), labor regulations remain focused around the traditional employment model but will surely catch up, to secure benefits like healthcare and retirement, gig workers will turn to a model that traditional employees used to negotiate the 40-hour workweek and weekends off (unions), and business services will cater to gig workers.
  • Growing freelance services in this area: In 2019, the majority of the human cloud spending was attributed to business-to-consumer (B2C) services such as Uber, Postmates, Lyft, or Instacart. Care.com, a membership-based platform for babysitters, nannies, and other child care professionals, earned 1st place on the list for its availability, high user ratings, and the fact that it does not retain commission. Care.com — a membership-based platform for babysitters, nannies, and other child care professionals — justifiably earned the 1st place on the list of the best gig economy companies, for its availability, the high user ratings, and the fact that it doesn’t retain commission. Task Rabbit with an average hourly pay of $30 and user ratings of 4.25, ranked second among US top gig economy companies. Guru ranked 3rd, with Rover, HopSkip Drive, and Freelancer ranked in the 4th, 5th and 6th places.
  •  Nearly every company in the world now benefits from the gig economy. In 2018, Google employed more freelance workers than full-time employees. Airbnb, Amzon Flex, Cabify, Etsy, Appen, Airtasker, Onefinestay, Fiverr, Shipt, Talkspace, Tongal, Wag!, and Sharenow make this list of top companies in the gig economy space.
  •  Task Rabbit, with an average hourly pay of $30 and user ratings of 4.25, ranked second among the US top gig economy companies, whereas Guru ranked 3rd. Rover, HopSkip Drive, and Freelancer ranked in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th places, respectively.
  •   Kmong is an online talent marketplace based out of South Korea that resembles Fiverr in terms of its domain coverage and business model. Fully digital platforms (Talkspace, Fiverr, etc.) and local players all deserve attention, as individuals branch out to look for a gig economy company that’s best suited to their talent and employment needs.
  •  Best sites to find gig jobs (2020): Fiverr connects businesses with freelancers offering digital services in 300+ categories. Upwork (best overall) connects businesses of all sizes to freelancers, independent professionals, and agencies for all their hiring needs as the world’s largest, remote talent platform. MBO Partners helps enterprises easily and compliantly engage self employed professionals with strategic, technology-driven solutions. Freelancer, Guru, TaskRabbit, Toptal, Flexjobs, and LinkedIn Profinder make the list of top 8 gig economy content localization platforms.