National Independent Worker Day Date in the current year: August 18, 2024

Although working a traditional full-time job is still the norm in most societies, the number of independent workers has been growing steadily over the past years. Independent workers, also known as self-employed individuals, are people working for themselves rather than an employer. They include independent contractors, consultants, and small business owners.

The term “independent contractor” is sometimes used interchangeably with the term “freelancer”. The former is a more formal term designating the employment and tax classes of a self-employed worker, while the latter is an informal term commonly used in a number of industries (computer programming, web design, graphic design, writing, translating, illustrating, etc.).

However, some sources differentiate between the two terms. According to them, freelancers usually provide services to multiple clients simultaneously and undertake short-term projects, while independent contractors tend to work for a single client for a long-term period. In addition, freelancers are more prevalent in creative and media industries, whereas independent contractors are common in industries such as construction, healthcare, finance, IT, etc.

Be that as it may, there is no denying the fact that independent workers make a significant contribution to economy. There are tens of millions of self-employed individuals in the United States; they belong to different age groups, have different skill sets and income levels, but share at least one trait: a desire to be independent. According to the direct sourcing platform MBO Partners, there were more than 64.6 million independent workers in the U.S. as of 2022, who contributed $1.3 trillion to the country’s economy that year.

National Independent Worker Day was created in 2019 by iPSE-U.S. The Association of Independent Workers, a not-for-profit association that connects, empowers, protects, and advocates for America’s independent workers and their equal access to benefits. The main goal of the holiday is to highlight the contribution of independent workers and raise awareness of the challenges they face such as lack of stability, no paid leaves, difficulties attracting new clients, etc.

How can you get involved with National Independent Worker Day? If you’re self-employed, don’t be shy and use the opportunity to show off your skills and find new clients. Post about yourself and the services you provide on social media with the hashtags #NationalIndependentWorkerDay and #IndependentWorkerDay, and ask your followers to like and repost. It is also a great day to check out your local coworking spaces if you’ve been looking for a change of scenery.

If you work for an employer, you can celebrate by supporting your local small businesses, recommending the services of the self-employed people you know to someone, and helping spread the word about the holiday.