Market Overview

Based on “The Action Plan for the Realization of Work Style Reform” in March 2017, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has formed a guideline for side business & outside employment promotions, and revised the Model Rules of Employment. As the government has started addressing to create a system for the nation to feel at ease in starting side business, various matching services have emerged to support side business targeting mainly white-collar workers for a start.

Prior to such a trend, the professions such as designers and engineers have already had the opportunity of side business through the use of crowdsourcing services directed at freelancers. White-collar workers (office workers), on the contrary, are generally at office, limiting them from having spare time from business and working hours, and made them difficult to operate side business. However, spread of remote working and working at home, triggered by the coronavirus calamity, has increased the freedom in workstyle, which eased workers to step into side business, leading the side business market centered on office business to be in the spotlight once again.

Noteworthy Topics

Business-related Platforms Likely to Enhance Generosity in Support, In Addition to Side-Business Matching

Among the four categories defined in this research, there still are not many people using business-related platforms, and there still are not many companies that are used to accepting those employees who wish to start side business, so that there can be mismatching between personnel and tasks.

In response to these issues, business-related side business support platforms offer not only matching services, but also support services for companies that place orders for business projects, which include offering of proposals on what specific tasks can be requested as a side business, by detecting business issues, defining business requirements, and closely examining business contents at each company. Such enhancement in services to companies improves the usability of side business, which is expected to increase the number of both the user companies and the workers who wish to do side business.

Future Outlook

The business-related platform market is projected to continue boosting in a rapid manner because of lifting of side business at companies stemming from the workstyle reform, changes in working environment where companies allowing parallel workers, increase in business matching platform that support side business, enhancement in service supports, etc.

The market size of side business platforms, which consists of the total four categories of platforms (business-related, designer & engineer empowerment, hobbies & lifestyle-related, and space-offering) is expected to attain 39,700 million yen by 2023, based on the amount dealt at platform providers.

Research Outline