A New Wave of Self Employment Is Hitting the Business World

The Future of Self-Employment

We’ve been in a gig economy for quite some time now. However, as the pandemic caused people to realize how unfeasible that is for a long-term economic system, many took to starting their own businesses in order to wrest back control of their own income.

Over 4.4 million businesses started up over lockdown in America alone. If you consider the fact that this article was written in February of 2021, and that many people who start side hustles don’t count as officially registered businesses, the amount of people launching business endeavors is unprecedented.

COVID-19 was one cause of the issue, as people had more time and financial incentive, but there has also been a massive exodus from the American workforce over the past year. 4.4 million people (3% of the American workforce) have quit their jobs due to dissatisfaction with pay, conditions, or how the businesses handled the pandemic. These millions of people may simply work elsewhere, but a large percentage may be preparing to start businesses of their own.

It’s hard to imagine this trend not continuing as the economy levels out. While many of these businesses will have likely not stood the test of time, there will also be people who didn’t start businesses who will now be getting enough of a grasp on their finances to start their own businesses. While we may not see a similar meteoric rise in new businesses like this in a long time, it’s a safe bet to believe that new businesses will be starting up at a larger rate than pre-pandemic.