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Independent Workers Go Mainstream

Save the Date – December 3, 2013 – for our Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium in Los Angeles. This year’s theme revolves around food businesses.

  • Independent Workers
  • Newsy Tidbits
  • The Goodies – This week’s highlight includes a webinar on Thursday, September 26, 2013 8:00-9:30am PT // 11:00 am – 12:30pm ET that will share insights on how large-scale training organizations pursue sustainable funding for training. Learn more and register for this important webinar.

Independent Workers

Our friends from Emergent Research and MDO Partners released their 2013 State of Independence in America report. “The growing headcount of Americans working more than half-time as individual self-employed contributors reached 17.7 million, up 10% from the base year of 2011, generating nearly $1.2 trillion in total income — and growing 20% annually.”

It’s clear that independent work continues to go mainstream: the third year of the study documents a clear, structural shift to independent work. Based on the results of the survey, the independent workforce is expected to grow to 24 million by 2018. Both employers and (former) employees want more flexibility in the work place, making independent work more common. “By 2020, about 50% of the private workforce will have spent time as independent workers at some point in their work lives.”

Confirming what CAMEO members already know, the study finds that independent workers are job creators. In the past year, “roughly 1 in 4 independents hired other independents, spending $96 billion and employing the equivalent of 2.3 million full-time workers via contract hiring.”

Claudia and Shufina will be in DC next week with Steve King and Carolyn Oeckels (Emergent Research) holding a roundtable with thought leaders about this labor market reality and how to bring our institutional support systems into the 21st century.

Newsy Tidbits


Every week, I gather important news stories and send them to the CAMEO staff to keep us informed about the trends and policies that affect our industry. We often use the information to talk about our work more effectively with funders and other influencers. Sometimes they inspire program ideas or a new way of working. We’ve decided to pass this week’s on to you. If you are interested in receiving this type of information on an adhoc basis, please let me know and I’ll add you to the list.

The Goodies

New opportunities for trainings, conference information, funding, scholarships, and other information that have crossed our desks since the last Must Know: I have posted a running tab of current Goodies on the CAMEO website that lists items that were in past emails. Check it out to make sure you’re not missing anything, like grants whose deadlines are still alive!

Free Webinar: Aspen Institute’s FIELD program hosts Strategies & Practices for Mobilizing Training Resources on Thursday, September 26, 2013 8:00-9:30am PT // 11:00 am – 12:30pm ET. This interactive webinar will share insights on how large-scale training organizations pursue sustainable funding for training. CAMEO member Marsha Bailey of Women’s Economic Ventures is one of the presenters. Learn more and register for this important webinar.

Healthcare Info: The Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority are launching the Affordable Care Act 101 weekly webinar series. Small business owners can learn the basics of the Affordable Care Act and what it means for their company and employees, including insurance reforms, the small business health care tax credit, the new health insurance marketplaces, and employer shared responsibility provisions. The Affordable Care Act 101 is on September 26 at 11:00am PT. Register for The Affordable Care Act 101.

Free Conference: Farmer Veterans Coalition hosts Empowering Women Veterans Conference on Thursday November 14, 2013 to Sunday November 17, 2013 in Louisville, KY. Learn more and register.