Our Economy Within the Economy

According to this article by The Wall Street Journal a few days ago, there's a freelance economy, and it's on the rise.

Between January and March, employers posted 70,500 of these work-for-hire positions on Elance.com and 43,000 on Odesk.com, which represents increases of 35% and 105%, respectively, from the same period in 2008.  Sologig.com, which lists remote and on-site freelance jobs, says its average monthly postings have more than doubled to around 13,500 per month in the past year.  In March, there were 750 jobs listed on VirtualAssistants.com, versus 400 in March 2008.

[...]

As the recession takes hold, more employers are using freelance workers to avoid the expenses associated with hiring permanent staff, says Fabio Rosati, chief executive officer of Mountain View, Calif.-based Elance.  "The power of online work is that it's immediate, cost-effective and flexible," he says.

Good news for freelancers!  Employers are realizing it's more cost-effective (particularly in this economy) to utilize people like me, who will happily work with them on a project-by-project basis.  Not only do they not have to pay benefits, but it means I can keep working from home!