The Collaborative Economy: Empowering Freelancers, Gig-Workers and Sharers

In the face of challenging macro-economic conditions, technology innovations are driving significant changes across a number of industries by incentivizing and enabling individuals to monetize their skills, time, and possessions like never before. Innovative new companies are harnessing these forces to create unprecedented liquidity in the labor force and foster new consumption models on a massive scale. Travelers can now reserve a spare room through Airbnb or find a free place to crash on Couchsurfing. Commuters can find a ride on Uber or rent a neighbor’s car on RelayRides. Busy parents can have groceries purchased and delivered through Instacart and similar services. By utilizing efficient and cost effective crowd-sourced labor and assets rather than hiring dedicated employees and purchasing hard inventory, Collaborative Economy companies are tipping the scales and quickly gaining market share versus traditional businesses. Hundreds of billions of dollars are at stake as these new entrants disrupt major industries like hospitality, transportation, delivery and professional services. The global hospitality industry alone is a $717 billion market (IBIS, 2014), whereas the global taxi industry is estimated to be a $100 billion market (FiveThirtyEight Economics, 2014).In pursuit of this opportunity, venture capital is fueling the race to establish the winners, investing a total of $7.0 billion since 2009 in Collaborative Economy companies. Ultimately, these businesses are enabled by ordinary people seeking new ways to earn a living or supplement existing income in challenging economic times. These marketplaces, offering skilled professionals working on freelance projects, part-time tradesmen and gig-workers performing local services, or property owners seeking to rent out their assets, are collectively referred to as the Collaborative Economy. This report examines the factors fueling this powerful economic trend and the new economy it creates.