Recently, a friend declined a job that most people her age would consider ideal. A well-known name on the business card, a good salary, and good benefits. The kind of offer that would have sparked a celebratory dinner even five years ago. She gave what amounted to a shrug in response. She stated, “I’m not interested in spending my best years in a cubicle,” and that was it. She returned to her laptop and her list of independent contractors, and she didn’t appear to lose any sleep over it.
It’s easy to write that off as naiveté. However, the data indicates that she is not an anomaly. Unbeknownst to most, she is a part of something much bigger and much more intentional.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Research Title | Gen Z Freelancing & Future of Work Report (UpNext 2024) |
| Published By | The Upwork Research Institute |
| Survey Partner | Edelman DXI |
| Survey Period | October 24 – November 9, 2023 |
| Sample Size | 1,070 U.S. Gen Z workers (560 freelancers, 510 employed) |
| Key Statistic | 52% of Gen Z professionals freelance |
| Comparison Generations | Millennials (44%), Gen X (30%), Boomers (26%) |
| Top Freelance Type (Gen Z) | Portfolio Careerist (39%) |
| AI Adoption Rate (Gen Z Freelancers) | 61% using generative AI tools |
| Platform Referenced | Upwork (Nasdaq: UPWK) |
| Official Reference | upwork.com/research/gen-z-work-requirements |
52% of Gen Z professionals worked as freelancers in 2023, according to recent research from The Upwork Research Institute. When you contrast that with 44% of Millennials, 30% of Gen X, and only 26% of Baby Boomers, an obvious pattern becomes apparent. This generation is not stumbling into freelancing due to a lack of “real” employment opportunities. With a clarity of purpose that often takes older observers by surprise, they are choosing it, frequently over traditional employment.
The most unexpected thing is probably how they’re doing it. Five different types of freelance careers are identified by the Upwork research, which was carried out in collaboration with Edelman DXI and surveyed over 1,000 Gen Z workers. The majority of Gen Z freelancers, or 39%, fit the description of “Portfolio Careerist.”
These professionals are adept at managing several projects, industries, and clients at once, creating careers that resemble webs rather than ladders. Many Gen Zers find this model to be exactly the kind of control and variety they were seeking, even though it would have seemed chaotic to earlier generations.
Speaking with members of this generation gives me the impression that they learned a very particular lesson from observing the generations that came before them. They witnessed how the 2008 financial crisis destroyed the retirement funds of individuals who had adhered to all accepted norms.
They witnessed their parents and older siblings put in 60-hour work weeks for what turned out to be mostly fictitious job security. For the majority of people, the rewards promised by the hustle culture never came to pass. It appears that Gen Z realized this and discreetly chose not to play the same game.
53% of Gen Z independent contractors put in at least 40 hours a week on a variety of projects. Of those, one-third have been doing so for more than two years. Therefore, the idea that a generation is experimenting with side jobs while they wait for a “real” career to begin is just untenable. This isn’t their parents’ ideal career, but for many of them, it’s the real one.
It is worthwhile to closely examine the reasons for the change. Yes, financial stability is a motivator, but it’s not the whole picture. For schedule flexibility, 70% of Gen Z freelancers say they work as independent contractors. Sixty-four percent of respondents say they would like to work in settings that do not restrict people based on their age, race, or gender.
Sixty-two percent of people want to pursue meaningful work. These individuals are not in dire need of any money they can manage. They are individuals who actively and morally decide how they want to spend their working hours and, perhaps more crucially, what success means to them.
Whether traditional employers fully comprehend the scope of what’s happening is still up for debate. Flexibility is still viewed by many businesses as a negotiating tool rather than a fundamental requirement. That framing is already out of date for Generation Z. According to a Harris Poll study done in collaboration with MarketWatch, 51% of Gen Z think that having a traditional 9–5 job is not necessary to succeed financially.
According to 60% of respondents, a full-time job won’t help them reach their financial goals. Instead, they are turning to investing, freelancing, and entrepreneurship; 65% of them think that investing is the most practical way for them to achieve significant wealth.
The way this generation is combining their work independence with a serious embrace of new technology is truly remarkable, and possibly underreported. 61% of Gen Z freelancers are using generative AI, compared to only 41% of their full-time counterparts. Of Gen Z freelancers, 39% have already earned certifications in specific AI training. As this develops, it’s difficult not to believe that freelancers aren’t lagging behind—rather, they might be advancing.
In all of this, there is something worthwhile to sit with. By the numbers, a generation that is perceived as entitled or unrealistic is working full-time hours, developing diverse skill sets, embracing emerging technologies more quickly than their peers in the workforce, and making thoughtful financial decisions. It’s possible that Gen Z isn’t actually turning down jobs.
The reason for this is that they are rejecting a specific version of work that wasn’t initially beneficial to the majority of people. The labor market will be shaped for years to come by whether the larger economy changes to accommodate them or keeps attempting to drag them back toward a structure they have largely outgrown.
