As the unemployment rate approaches 14%, older workers are suffering disproportionately in the coronavirus pandemic. For some, though, there might be a reprieve: freelancing.
Though not traditionally an arena where Gen X and boomer workers seek employment, the growth in work from home, online jobs and the elevated rates of joblessness are drawing 55+ workers into this brave new — and sometimes terrifying — world.
Upwork, one of the leading freelance websites, found in its research that nearly one-third of boomers and one-third of Gen Xers are actively freelancing, either full or part-time. And that was before the coronavirus decimated the traditional workforce.
Freelance work spans as many as 8,000 skills across 70 job categories, according to Upwork research. Among the top 100 jobs, average income is nearly $44 per hour, equating to an annual salary in the $91,000 range. That’s well above the median U.S. salary of just under $49,800. (For freelancing overall, the average hourly rate is about $28.)
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