Though the number of crowd workers in developed countries like the U.S., France, the U.K. and Germany has been increasing, there is limited official data available on their numbers. We must therefore rely on the results of surveys conducted by private companies, NPO, and researchers to analyze trends in the crowd work industry.
Additionally, it is difficult to compare the data because the available data differs depending on the country. According to the survey "Freelancing in America: 2016", conducted by Upwork , formerly Elance-oDesk,which is a global freelancing platform Union, the number of freelancers in the U.S. was 55 million in 2016. This reflects an increase of 2 million from 2014, and means that freelancers account for 35% of the entire U.S. workforce. The survey also forecasts that freelance will be responsible for about 50% of the whole workforce by 2020.
No longer just a label for journalists and photographers, the term "freelancer" is now understood to apply to a wide variety of careers, including bloggers, designers, Youtubers, and IT engineers. A main difference between the present day’s freelancers and those of the past is that most of the workers seek their work through Internet platforms. Therefore, it can be said that an increase in freelancers leads to growth in the number of crowd workers.
While a lack of data also makes it difficult to evaluate the crowd work industry in Europe, an Internet survey conducted by Ursula Huws and Simon Joyce at the University of Hertfordshire in February 2016 provides some insights into crowd work in the U.K., Germany, and Sweden. The survey shows that 11% of respondents in the U.K., 12% in Sweden, and 14% in Germany regard them as crowd workers. Respondents, who are 34 or younger, identify as crowd workers at a higher rate (Figure 1).