Move Over Great Resignation - Meet The Great Independence
History has a way of repeating itself, and if the 2008-2009 recession taught us anything, it’s that we can expect a tidal wave of newly empowered freelancers and small business owners to emerge from the thousands of people who have been recently laid off.
According to Score, “after the 2008 recession, many Americans were forced into freelancing because they couldn’t find full-time jobs. But when the economy recovered, those freelancers didn’t flock back to the old 9-to-5.”
The landscape of the freelance world is vastly different today in 2023 verses the 2008-2009 years. And by different- what we’re pointing out is how normalized freelancing has become. According to research from Mckinsey, the popularity of freelancing has grown so much that there were approximately 58 million freelancers in the US in 2022. Globally, it’s been reported by the World Bank that there’s 1.57 billion freelancers worldwide.
While self-employment isn’t a suitable or practical option for everyone, here are 6 compelling reasons why we foresee a giant spike in self-employed people emerging from the heels of these layoffs - creating what we believe will be the era of “The Great Independence”:
Laid off employees were left feeling discarded, disposable, and blindsided by the recent layoffs. Trust in job security from traditional employment has been severely compromised.
The layoffs have left many people feeling that they aren’t financially secure with traditional employment. The abrupt manner that many of the layoffs were handled were also traumatizing for many.
2. There’s never been easier, more affordable tools online to open your own freelance business in as little as a day.
From virtual office space, to ready made sites you can launch in an instant from brands like Shopify and Squarespace, to sites like Upwork and Fiverr where you can share your freelancer profile, its never been easier to launch your path to self-employment.
3. Laid off people who choose self-employment won’t be lonely in their journey - they have an abundance of communities and coworking spaces available to them to find like-minded people and a support system.
From thousands of coworking spaces around the world, to organizations like Freelancers Union, there are many support systems and third spaces that newly self-employed people can turn to for a sense of community along their journey.
4. Choosing self-employment provides agency in selecting clients and projects that align authentically with personal interests and pursuits.
Having agency to choose the clients and projects you want to work on is a major incentive to becoming self-employed. This sense of ownership over your work and career can lead to greater work and life satisfaction.
5. Choosing self-employment gives the flexibility and freedom to explore multiple income streams to boost income
Being self-employed means that you have the flexibility to explore as many different streams of income as you want to pursue. It’s not uncommon for many freelancers to have a primary form of freelance work, but additionally partake in other revenue-generating activities like investing, or operating a home-sharing rental on platforms like Airbnb.
The success of the creators economy and various creator tools available might lead many to also explore becoming a content creator on the side of their main self-employment work for additional revenue streams.
6. No more office commutes to do the same work you can do more comfortably and more efficiently from home. Choosing self-employment with an online business means you can work remotely forever from home, or from anywhere in the world.
As a self-employed person with an online business, the ability to work from home or from anywhere in the world would be 100% in your control. This is an extremely attractive proposition that will inspire many recently laid off people to explore self-employment, particularly as in addition to layoffs, many employers are trying to also push for a return to office that many workers found unnecessary with the proven successes of remote work productivity the past few years.
Digital nomadism (slow travel while working remotely) has grown significantly since the pandemic spurred the current global normalization of remote work, and we can only imagine that digital nomadism will grow at exponential rates with the inevitable tidal wave of self-employed people entering the market with the current layoffs. If you’re thinking of starting your digital nomad journey, join us in an inspiring destination for a month with a group of like-minded people.
Overall, while the past few months have been emotionally draining and disheartening to watch so many layoffs happen and resulting disruption in many peoples lives, it’s clear that a silver lining to what’s happening is that many laid off people will forge a stronger new path- bigger and brighter then ever before, in pursuit of self employment and independence.
About us: Adventurely is a travel club for digital nomads & remote workers. Join us for a month-long Welcome Meetup in Mexico City, Oaxaca or Playa Del Carmen Mexico to connect with a group of like-minded remote workers for an incredible month of experiences blending work, adventure & play.