Fastest Growing Jobs for Freelancers Online
Traditional concepts of 'going to work' are blurring more and more as digital technology makes it easier to work from anywhere at any time. Freelancers have been quick to capitalize on this trend, with a host of roles becoming increasingly popular for people that aren't particularly keen to complete a daily commute to earn a living. A recent survey by Freelancer.com highlights the jobs that are seeing the biggest growth.
Freelancer.com is the world's largest online marketplace for freelance assignments. Publishing its 'Fast 50' in apress releasein April 2012, the site based its data on more than 3 million users and 1.5 million projects. Overall, the site saw a massive increase in work in the first quarter of 2012, with 170,000 new jobs posted in the first quarter versus 130,000 in the same period of 2011.
The main trend is toward an increase in business process outsourcing. According to Freelancer, this is a global trend, driven by the difficult global economy, which is forcing businesses to to reduce costs. One way to do this is to outsource to online freelancers, who can pick up individual tasks at a fixed rate. Work undertaken in this way can often be accounted in a tax-efficient manner, making it an attractive route for businesses, and a lucrative source of income for many freelancers.
Amongst the key trends noted in the report:
Business processing outsourcing increased by 303% to 5,150 jobs in the period. Data processing and data entry also saw big increases at 187% and 111% respectively.
Jobs for virtual assistants also saw a strong increase at 144%. Virtual assistant roles are becoming increasing popular with small businesses, who outsource this basic administrative capability to enable them to focus on their core activities. The cost of off-shore labor makes this work particularly cost-effective.
The demand for mobile app developers remains relentless, with assignments up across all the major platforms and devices. Demand for Android app developers was up 26%, while iPhone app developers saw a 27% increase in work.
Changes in the demand for web technologies are reflected in the Freelancer report. HTML5 jobs were up 48%, and jQuery work benefited from a 39% increase in demand. Older technologies, like Flash, have started to see a move in the other direction, down 1% this quarter.
Content creation also remains healthy business. Article submission saw 91% growth, and research projects increased by almost a third. Some of these activities, which can be time-consuming to the average employee, sit very well with experienced freelancers, and more businesses are finding it easier to look to outsourcing to fulfill these commitments.
