Dive Brief:

• LinkedIn launched a new marketplace Wednesday aimed at connecting freelancers with companies that need their services.
• The marketplace, called Profinder, currently includes more than 140 service areas.
• The service launched as a pilot program last October and already has accumulated 50,000 freelancers.

Dive Insight:

LinkedIn is hoping to capitalize on the growing “gig” economy. The CIO Executive Council recently estimated that almost half of CIOs will employ gig workers in 2016.

"The freelance economy is on the rise," wrote Vaibhav Goel, group product manager at LinkedIn, in a blog post. "The number of freelancers on LinkedIn has grown by nearly 50% in just the past five years.”

LinkedIn’s initial numbers show Florida, Texas and Colorado had the highest freelance growth rates in the country over the last 12 months. The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries both saw the biggest jump in freelance worker growth, with both industries seeing more than 50% growth in their freelance workforces during the past five years.