????越來越多的人認為，二十一世紀初葉堪稱“美國自由職業時代”的開端，亦可以說是其回歸之年。

????自由職業者求職網站Elance于今年9月調研了超過3,000名自由職業者后發布報告稱，57%的受訪者稱收入在2012年出現上漲，67%的受訪者預計2012年收入將會有所上漲。

????Elance網站首席執行官法比奧?羅薩蒂說，到2012年底，公司網站上發布的招聘自由職業者的工作崗位接近100萬個，較2011年的65萬個工作崗位有大幅上漲。他說：“各類公司發布的‘分包工作’數量創下了新紀錄，而且通過這個渠道招聘了許多對口的自由職業者。”上述調查報告稱，42%的雇主預計會在2013年招聘更多的自由職業者。

????羅塞蒂說，創意人員、技術人員、IT和程序員是自由職業市場上需求增長最快的崗位。創意人員需要具備多媒體制作技能，IT和程序員也常需要開發手機應用軟件。羅塞蒂說，招聘市場對法務和財會自由職業者的需求也很旺盛。

????過去幾年間，自由職業者的人數保持了相對穩定。據美國勞工統計局（the Bureau of Labor Statistics）的數據，2009年，有1,530萬美國人自稱自由職業者。2012年10月，這一數字為1,490萬人。

????聘用自由職業者對雇主來說益處多多。首先便是成本的降低。企業無需為顧問或是臨時工作人員提供醫保、養老金和帶薪假期，有時甚至連辦公室都不用提供。

????Elance網站上有83%的雇主表示，雇用自由職業者最主要的動因就是完成工作的速度。這些公司稱，很多情況下，自由職業者的專業技能和專注工作可以令項目得以更快地完成。羅塞蒂說，一旦自由職業者入職并了解了企業文化后，公司就能夠逐漸培養起一支自由職業者員工隊伍，能夠又快又好地完成任務。

????《自由職業的國度》（Free Agent Nation）一書的作者丹尼爾?平克將最新興起的自由職業浪潮歸結為如下幾個因素。首先，平克稱“疲軟的經濟令雇主們不愿雇用全職員工”，而自由職業者卻能“在合適的時間用合適的技能完成合適的工作”。

????這股浪潮的興起還改變了雇主與雇員之間的社會契約關系。“裁員的現實，不僅是一次性的裁員而且還有揮之不去的裁員陰影，改變了雇主和雇員之間討價還價的現狀，”平克說。

????Elance網站稱，21%的會員是因丟掉工作之后才走上了自由職業者的道路，還有40%的人是將自由職業的收入作為全職工作收入的補充。

????More and more, it seems the early 21st century will be marked as the beginning -- or return, as the case may be -- of the era of the American freelancer.

????A September survey of over 3,000 independent contractors conducted by Elance, a website that helps freelancers find work, reports that 57% of those surveyed reported an increase in 2012 income and 67% expect their income to rise in 2012.

????Fabio Rosati, CEO of Elance, says that his company's site will have posted nearly 1 million freelance jobs by the end of 2012, a substantial increase from 650,000 in 2011. "Businesses are posting a record number of 'fractional' jobs and hiring freelancers suited to do the work," he says. In Elance's survey, 42% of employers said they anticipate hiring more freelancers in 2013 than the previous year.

????Creative, technical, IT, and programming gigs are the fastest growing in the freelance market, according to Rosati. He says that these creative jobs often call for multimedia skills, and IT and programming often entail mobile app development. Rosati says that freelance legal and accounting workers are also in demand.

????The ranks of the self-employed have held relatively steady over the past few years. In 2009, 15.3 million Americans identified themselves as self-employed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In October 2012, 14.9 million U.S. workers were self-employed.

????Employers enjoy several benefits from hiring freelancers. For one, it keeps their costs down, since consultants or temporary workers don't receive health care and retirement benefits, vacation time, and many do not require office space.

????Eighty-three percent of Elance's employer clients cite speed as a major impetus to hiring freelancers. In many cases, these companies claim, projects are completed faster because freelancers bring special skills and can zero in on each job. Once a freelancer is brought on board and gets a sense of the culture at a company, firms often develop a steady cohort of independent contractors who perform work quickly, Rosati suggests.

????Daniel Pink, author of Free Agent Nation, attributes the recent rise in freelancers to several factors. For one, Pink says, the "dodgy economy has made employers loath to hire full-timers." Freelancers provide "the right talent for the right task at the right time," he says.

????The rise in hiring freelancing has also transformed the social contract between worker and employee. "The reality of downsizing -- not as a one-time occurrence but as an omnipresent possibility -- has altered the bargain," Pink says.

????Elance says 21% of its subscribers started to freelance after they were laid off from their jobs, while 40% started taking contract work to supplement income from full-time jobs.