Growing Demand for Freelance Jobs: Which Are the Most Popular?
The global workforce has been undergoing a revolution since the advent of the internet, with a rise in independent professionals working online. This has been expedited by the recent Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in mandatory lockdowns leading to most workers working from home. As remote work becomes the new normal, more employees plan to explore this form of income generation in the future.
Some forms of entertainment have also moved online. The gaming industry, for example, has experienced one of the biggest shifts over the past couple of years, and the pandemic further drove the change. So instead of traveling long distances to brick-and-mortar casinos, gamblers are instead playing their favorite casino games on sites like the casino online VulkanVegas.
Companies realize that some jobs, like one-off projects, are better delivered through freelance professionals working part-time rather than hiring full-time staff. While freelancers seemed to take a hit at the outset of the pandemic as expected in a recession, more opportunities have presented themselves, and the demand has suddenly gone up. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular freelance jobs whose demand continues to increase month after month, year after year:
Web Design and Development
Learning programming languages used in Web development will set you on a path to becoming an in-demand professional anywhere. For starters, you could learn HTML, CSS and JavaScript using the numerous tutorials available online. WordPress web development is also becoming an easy way to set up sites for small businesses. It takes about 6 months to get to a level where you can start earning a basic income from accomplishing simple tasks. Then, within 12 months of actively learning and practicing, you can become a pro in the field, which could earn you over $100,000 annually.
Data Science and Machine Learning
With the increase in research projects, interactive devices, prediction models and lots of data available on the internet, data science professionals have a lot of work on their hands. This career path is lucrative, and freelance data scientists are jumping at the opportunities which also come with high pay. To start on this path, you can start by learning some statistical programming languages like R and Python.
Software Programming
Most app development projects do not need full-time programmers on the team. With skills like Java, Swift, C# and ASP.NET, software developers working independently can work on various projects and on different teams. You don’t even need a Computer Science degree to be a competitive programmer. With experience coupled with excellent communication skills, you can pitch your portfolio to many clients and work multiple gigs for a handsome sum. The average annual pay for freelance software developers in the US is about $114,000.
Video, Audio and Graphic Production
The web is bursting at the seams with the number of audiovisual content being posted every second of the day. To stand out from the competition, content creators like gamers and influencers outsource video and audio editing to professionals who can then edit their content before posting it online. This also helps in producing more content in less time to maximize monetization. Mastering editing software and graphic design software will go a long way in getting these gigs. Freelance video editors make about $53,900 in the US, which may go higher when coupled with other skills like audio editing.
Social Media Marketing
This has become an essential part of brand creation, audience identification, targeting and driving user engagement to a product. The good news is that it’s never too late to start on social media marketing since the trends are forever changing. So, if you understand the current trends, you can hit the ground running. For example, you could begin by taking online social media marketing courses and following brands that are already on top of their game on social media. In addition, understanding the different social media networks to know which works for which clients is vital because the target audience and client niches are diverse.
What Does the Future Hold?
Over 400 million jobs were lost as a result of the pandemic in 2020. Thus, we can only expect creative money-making techniques, especially from gen Z college graduates who are proving to be more ambitious than ever. With the increased ditching of the 9-5 grind, 50% of Gen Z-ers (between ages 18-22) are participating in freelance work in the US alone, and the rate of freelance adoption is increasing globally.
Young workers are now treating jobs as gigs, which means they can earn a living from more than one source. We can only expect this trend to go up as the demand grows. Of course, the main factor at play here is the internet. As long as you have internet connectivity, it is easy to connect with clients from different parts of the globe if you are a freelancer. Better yet, there are tons of platforms that help clients and freelancers connect easily.
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