Unpacking America’s freelancing boom
REPORT
14 Aug 2023
Unpacking America’s freelancing boom

With the global gig economy predicted to hit $455 billion in 2023 and the number of American freelancers expected to surpass 90.1 million by 2028, how are people’s attitudes to freelance work changing? And what can brands do to cater to this growing demographic of workers?

Lindsey D. Cameron

Lindsey D. Cameron is an assistant professor of management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. With a focus on the gig economy, her research explores how algorithmic management is changing the modern workplace, especially with regard to individuals' working behaviours and the experience of the most marginalised and vulnerable workers. She recently completed a six-year ethnography of the ride-hailing industry, the largest employer in the gig economy, and is now researching how ride-hailing workers on three continents navigate disputes.

Erin Hatton

Professor Erin Hatton is a sociology professor at SUNY Buffalo focusing on labor movements, the gig economy, the minimum wage, coerced labor and other issues related to labor policy and inequity in the workforce. Her research focuses on work and political economy, extending into the fields of social inequality, labor, law, and social policy.

Josh Greenblatt

Josh Greenblatt is a writer and brand strategist based in Toronto. He is the former editor-in-chief of SHARP, a Canadian men’s magazine, and has bylines in Vogue, GQ, Dazed, Gawker, and more. He received his master’s degree in management of innovation from Goldsmiths, University of London, specializing in behavioural economics and marketing. Josh’s coursework involved real briefs from Flamingo and the UK government, and his thesis focused on the cultural resonance of the slow fashion movement among Gen Yers. After graduate school he worked in brand strategy and innovation agencies in London.