Freelance as a type of labor activity in the information society

The article is devoted to the study of the various foreign and domestic approaches to understanding of freelancing. The author gives the own definition of this phenomenon. Scientific and practical interest to the study of freelancers is determined by the very rapid spread of this type of employment in recent years, as well as changes in the structure of social relations in society, the emergence of new professions, mainly related to the information sphere. The author analyzes the main characteristics of freelancers as a group of self-employed workers. The article contains materials of domestic studies, which offer classifications of freelancers within their group, as well as the results of the author's research of freelancers studying at the Moscow State University.