The independent workforce is bigger than anyone thought

The independent workforce — including the gig economy — is larger than anyone has previously estimated, according to a new report.

Up to 162 million people are working independently throughout the United States and European Union, the McKinsey Global Institute determined in its report Independent Work: Choice, Necessity and the Gig Economy.

McKinsey analyzed existing government and private sector data and surveyed workers in the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden to reach that conclusion. The 162 million number is extrapolated from the finding that independent workers make up between 20 and 30 percent of the working-age population in the U.S. and EU.

A recent survey from the Freelancers' Union, by comparison, estimated that 55 million Americans worked as freelancers in 2016.

"This is a bigger phenomenon than we thought, and it's growing," McKinsey partner Susan Lund, who co-authored the report, told Mashable. "We're able to get at the motivations. Do people want to be doing this? Are they satisfied?"

The McKinsey study included workers who supplement their income with independent work, rather than just workers who depend on independent models for their full-time employment.

Of those independent workers, however, only a small percentage are members of the oft-maligned gig economy — providing labor on a contract basis through a service like Uber, Postmates or TaskRabbit.

Only 15 percent of the projected 162 million independent workers have ever used a digital platform for their work. Within that 15 percent, only 6 percent provide labor.

Instead, the "independent workforce" includes people would likely identify as self-employed.

McKinsey characterized independent work as work that is flexible, is paid by the task or assignment and has a short-term relationship between the worker and the customer. A tax accountant fits that description just as well as an Uber driver.

Of the 15 percent who use a digital platform for their work, many are selling items on eBay or Etsy or renting rooms on Airbnb rather than driving an Uber or delivering food.

Notably, 70 percent of workers said they were choosing to pick up independent work, whether for their primary or supplemental income. The other 30 percent were doing so out of necessity.

Those who chose to pick up independent work, unsurprisingly, reported higher levels of satisfaction with their work.

The 148-page McKinsey report also ties independent models of work to history. Most workers were independent at the turn of the twentieth century, until the Industrial Revolution tied workers to one employer and a 9-5 model, Lund said.

"The 9-5 job is becoming more of a myth than the reality of how people make their living," Lund said. "It's time for everyone to reset how they think about work."