In tight labor market, 4 in 10 full-time employees are considering the shift to freelancing

With millions more available jobs than unemployed workers, the labor market remains an employee’s game. That picture is reinforced by a new study from Kantata, a professional software development company, which showed that more than 40% of all full-time employees are considering a shift to freelance work, even as management struggles to bring in new full-time workers.

The study, which looked at 1,500 workers across a range of industries and companies in the U.S., compared how full-time workers, independent contractors, and executive leaders viewed their organizations. It found that not only were many full-time workers interested in moving to freelance work, but of those independent contractors surveyed, more than three-fourths worked full-time as little as a year ago. Younger generations were especially likely to have considered freelance work, with more millennials and Gen Z employees saying they’ve thought about becoming independent contractors than haven’t. In comparison, a significant majority of Gen Xers and baby boomers said they had not considered freelance work.

The data suggests that flexibility might be a factor pulling many workers towards freelancing. More than 40% of full-time workers said they envied the freedom granted to freelancers. Almost 60% of employees also said that new shifts to remote work had made independent contractor jobs more attractive.