Understanding the White-collar gig economy & motivations for joining it

Abstract

The gig economy is one on which tremendous research has been completed already, closely detailing motivations, payments, issues, search mechanisms and so on. However, in the post-COVID world, a new form of freelancing has been seen in the white-collar sector. As evidenced by the so-called ‘Great Resignation’, many consultants left their jobs and began working as freelance consultants or looking for work in other industries. The motivations behind freelance work in white-collar jobs such as consulting have not been well documented, with very little literature focusing on the same. With the emergence of this sector, this study attempts to qualify the motivations people have behind freelancing and how much they expect to earn from the same. It focuses on the supply side of the white-collar freelance economy, to understand their existing perceptions about freelancing and their inclination towards the same. Our aim is for the findings from this study to serve as a template in job design for firms looking to hire freelancers as well as understand how much they need to pay to hire top talent. Owing to the target group, this study focuses on individuals who have high earning potential in the form of students pursuing their MBA at IIM Ahmedabad. It attempts to understand the situations that may persuade them to pursue freelancing as a career despite having options in the form of traditional consulting readily available to them. The selection of this target group is further owed to a potential greater entrepreneurial inclination compared to the average job seeker.