The American economy is no longer an army of “company men” and longtime workers at one company; according to a 2023 Forbes article, freelancers, or workers who do project-based or contract-based work without benefits, contributed $1.27 trillion in earnings to the U.S. economy. Fractional hiring, or temporary employment for typical white-collar jobs, is trending in the workforce. But is the freedom to shift roles frequently worth the tradeoff of stability and losing potential health benefits?
We surveyed 1,000 workers and hiring managers across the U.S. to poll them on their job satisfaction and whether they were pursuing the career of their dreams, as well as how much of a premium they placed on the stability and benefits of a traditional full-time role. We found that for many, needing health benefits was the thing holding them back from starting businesses and pursuing their ideal careers.
Barriers to Entrepreneurship: 43% of workers would start their own business if they didn’t need health insurance
Are American workers happy? Most like their jobs, but over 1 in 10 do not. Nearly 1 in 3 are bored at work, and 49% say they’re not pursuing their dream career. Why? Stability. Over 2 in 3 workers chose their current career due to its stability. Stability also happens to be the #1 reason why just over half of workers aren’t currently in their dream careers.
Other barriers to pursuing their actual professional passions? Workers cited salary needs, the current job market, having dependents, and needing health insurance as other considerations that keep them in their current careers.
Health insurance is a major barrier to workers leaving their current jobs; 1 in 4 would leave their jobs if they didn’t need health insurance, and nearly half of workers would start their own businesses in the same circumstance. When asked whether they thought tying health insurance to employment was good for the economy, 45% said “no.”
Fractional HR: 1 in 4 have at least one C-Suite member that is short-term
Contract-based, temporary work, in which workers are only part of a company for a finite, predetermined period, is on the rise. Nearly half of workers (46%) work with contract-based employees, and of them, 91% say these workers contribute positively to the company culture. Interestingly, 1 in 4 American full-time workers surveyed also said that they have at least one C-Suite member that is fractional or temporary.
Fractional hiring can be a quick solution to understaffing; over 2 in 5 workers say their current workplace is understaffed. Managers felt similarly: 36% said that they’re currently understaffed. The good news: 76% will be hiring in 2025. 35% are planning on hiring only permanent, “W2” employees, while 30% are hiring a mixture of contract and permanent employees. A further 11% are only hiring contractors in 2025.
Just over half the managers we surveyed (56%) say that they currently employ fractional, or temporary/contract workers. Nearly half (47%) are planning to hire even more of them in 2025; for some, this might be due to pressure from above, as 27% say they’re being pressured into hiring more contract employees by their leadership.
If so many managers feel understaffed, why aren’t they hiring? The #1 barrier is having sufficient budget for salary, followed by finding qualified hires in the first place, and finally, for 12%, having a budget specifically for overhead like health insurance, PTO, etc.
Gig Nation: Nearly half of all workers freelance
While the buzzword might no longer be the “gig economy,” it seems that many workers still embrace side hustles. 47% of the workers we surveyed freelance or do temporary work; of them, 11% are freelancing full-time.
Three in 4 freelancers really enjoy the project-based work format; 60% would even freelance full-time if they didn’t need benefits like PTO, health insurance, disability, etc. Favorite aspects of fractional work include the flexibility, a perk for 90% of freelancers. Followed by that is workplace portability, or working where they want, on-demand time off, doing more interesting work, and following project-based timelines.
The major negative aspects of freelance and/or fractional work are unstable finances, having no benefits, needing to hustle constantly, the lack of a broader societal safety net, and finally managing client relationships.
A more mobile workforce could prove a boon for the economy — and happier workers. Not only that, but finding ways to pursue passions without risking benefits could radically transform the economy. Project-based work is necessary for many small businesses, whether it’s launching a website or bringing on a temporary Chief Marketing Officer to take your startup to the next level. It’s 2025 and the economy continues to diversify — where will it go next?
Methodology and fair use
In December 2024, we surveyed 1,002 American full-time workers on their job satisfaction, desire to shift jobs, and what’s holding them back from a more mobile career. 50% were men, 49% were women, and 1% were either nonbinary or chose not to disclose; ages ranged from 19-69 with an average age of 38.
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Fair Use
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