The world of boxed cubicles, bosses and 9 – 5 is melting away, and the rhetoric around work is less about work to live and more about live to work. Millennials value their career first, and their ambitions are couched in passionate, creative outlets, whatever the industry. Their parents dreamt of backyards and boats on the weekend, millennials want to feel fulfilled and free Monday through Sunday.
Statistics stating that 40 per cent of the United States workforce will be freelance by 2020 (Forbes) suggest these changes aren’t simply a floating trend, but rather a complete evolution in the way we work. In Australia, the number of independent contractors or self-employed people who did not employ others, as a percentage of the workforce, has already increased from 6.7 per cent in 1978 to 9 per cent in 2013. This statistic is set to accelerate in coming years.