Gig Economies Help Small Business

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By SCORE, Special for USDR

SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, has released new survey data that shows small businesses’ increasing reliance on part-time and gig workers this holiday season. Small business owners reported a 37% increase in hiring gig workers over the past six months (more than any other type of worker), citing specialized expertise and temporary/seasonal needs as top reasons for hiring this part-time or temporar help.

This infographic accompanies the latest installment of SCORE’s Megaphone of Main Street data report series, which presents original, statistically-significant survey data on the American small business landscape.

Small Businesses Are Hiring – Especially for Gig Workers/Contractors

Small business owners reported a hiring increase in all categories of workers over the past six months, but the greatest growth was seen in gig workers (37% increase), followed by part-time employees (22% increase).
% of small business owners reported replacing employees (of any type) with contractors.

Solopreneurs Create Significant Impact on Employment

47% of non-employer/solopreneur firms reported hiring other part-time workers, for an average of 3.2 workers (including the owner).

Employees and Contractors Offer Different Advantages

Top reasons business owners hire a contractor/temporary worker versus an employee include specialized expertise (50.8%), temporary or seasonal needs (41%), and cash reserves to comfortably make payroll (35.1%).
The top business functions outsourced to contactors are technology (42%), accounting (41%) and marketing (38%).
Business owners reported that top reasons to hire an employee include consistency of work (57%), followed by a full-time worker’s commitment to the company, vision and brand (53%).

For more information on small business hiring trends, download The Megaphone of Main Street: Small Business Jobs Report and our previously released infographic, “Small Businesses and Employment.” Stay tuned for our final infographic in this series, “Small Business Owner Sentiment Going into 2018,” slated for release in two weeks.

About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 10 million aspiring entrepreneurs through free small business mentoring sessions and educational services offered in 300 chapters nationwide. In 2016, SCORE’s 10,000 volunteers provided 2.2+ million hours to help create more than 55,000 small businesses and 130,000 full-time, part-time and contractor jobs.

SOURCE SCORE