Well yeah, it's definitely not the last millennium anymore.

Check the Google screen scrape below:

How many Americans are in a gig economy?

More than one-third of US workers (36%) participate in the gig economy, either through their primary or secondary jobs. This number comprises around 59 million Americans. It's not just multiple job holders; for 29% of US workers, their primary job is actually an alternative work arrangement.

Legacy structural employment is shrinking by the year. A lot. Of the 60 million mentioned above maybe 300-500K(??) at best are in any creative writing profession, as gig/contract/DIY/you name it. This probably has something to do with the Medium income situation.

Imagine how many you are competing within your profession alone?

I'm sure more crap than this is going on, but heck these are big enough numbers to contemplate, which may have not even been thought of 25 years ago. Oh, BTW, when you hear official employment numbers out of D.C. um, flush those right down the hopper.