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As predicted, 2013 is shaping up to be The Year of the Freelance indeed. At least if figures from 2012 are any indication.
Last year the number of businesses hiring on Elance soared (up 54%). Ditto for total freelancer earnings (up 40%). These and other meaty findings are all part of the just-released Global Online Employment Report. See the report for more details, but here are some highlights from 2012:
• 345,000 new business joined Elance
• 80,000+ jobs are being posted each month
• 779,000 new freelancers joined Elance
• $200 million was earned by freelancers
High-skilled freelancers are increasingly in demand.
Businesses are increasingly realizing the need to Work Differently, going online for the talented freelancers they desperately need to grow the business. Here are some hiring trends on Elance in 2012:
• Mobile app developers (Android) up 146%
• Mobile app developers (iOS) up 132%
• HTML developers up 149%
• PHP experts up 108%
• CSS professionals up 103%
Surging demand for content creation too.
Needing fresh content for their web pages and mobile apps, in 2012 businesses also increased online hiring in these skill categories:
• Content writing up 151%
• Blog writing up 78%
• Web design up 205%
• Graphic design up 165%
• Photoshop experts up 165%
• Illustrator experts up 131%
• Digital marketing experts up 190%
• Social Media experts up 132%
Top global powers and struggling economic regions alike see increases.
In hard-hit areas of the US and Europe there was a natural spike of freelancer earnings in 2012, as online professionals took control of their own destiny and found jobs on Elance. This includes dramatically-increased earnings in US states from Rhode Island (+89%) and Mississippi (+67%) to New Jersey (+58%), Michigan (+54%) and California (+41). The same goes for Eastern Europe, where Poland, Bulgaria and the Ukraine levered their strong technical skills to significantly drive 2012 earnings.
Not limited to regions with financial woes, hiring in 2012 was also strong among global powers. A few countries setting hiring records include China (+204%), Japan (+109%), Italy (+70%), France (+66%), Germany (+50%) and the UK (+42%).
“Our results prove that our focus on connecting businesses with the highest quality talent is paying off. The number of businesses hiring on Elance increased dramatically, driving strong growth in freelancer earnings,” said Fabio Rosati, CEO of Elance. “We’re well on our way to reaching $1 billion in cumulative freelancer earnings in 2013.”
Enjoy The Year of the Freelancer!