Freelancer.com (ASX: FLN), the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by number of users and jobs posted, today released its quarterly Canadian Fast 50 Index for Q2, 2024 based on data from 251,000 freelance jobs posted to the platform.
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In global results, Computer Security (up 27.1% from 868 to 1,103 jobs) emerges as the fastest-growing freelance skill on Freelancer.com, based on job postings across more than 2,000 skill categories from April 1 to June 30, 2024. Please see the charts below for more global results.
In Canada, the freelance skills most in demand are quite different:
• Content creation boom: The top two fastest-growing skills in Canada are Article Rewriting (up by 72%) and Article Writing (up by 24%). This suggests a significant demand for content creation services, possibly driven by businesses looking to enhance their online presence or adapt their messaging in the evolving digital landscape.
• Language services in high demand: Translation services, particularly English (US) Translation, saw substantial growth (up 59% and 42%, respectively). This indicates an increasing need for businesses to reach English-speaking markets in the US or globally, or it might reflect a growing number of international companies entering the Canadian market.
• Programming projects are on the rise: There’s notable growth in programming-related skills, with C# Programming (up 43%) and Java (up 39%) both in the top five fastest growing skills in Canada. This suggests a strong demand for software development talent in Canada, driven by digital transformation initiatives.
• Canadian businesses seeking video and design skills: Video Editing (up 35%) and Banner Design (up 26%) are both in the top 10, indicating a rising demand for visual content creation. This aligns with the global trend towards more engaging, visual-based marketing and communication strategies. 3D Design (up 15%) also features in the top 10 fastest growing skills.
These trends seem to indicate that Canadian businesses are investing heavily in digital content, software development, and visual communication, while also focusing on reaching broader markets through translation services. The data paints a picture of a dynamic freelance market in Canada, with opportunities spanning both creative and technical fields.
The index also shows no negative impact on generative AI tools on freelance jobs, evident in the growth of writing, general business services, and legal skills, all of which were predicted to decrease with the rise in generative AI.
In addition to the quarterly data set, we also have preliminary findings from our annual AI survey. This year we asked over 4,100 workers globally how AI has impacted their earnings. More than half of workers (52.5%) reveal they’re earning either the same or more. One fifth (19.2%) say that they’re earning a lot more since generative AI tools were introduced, while only one sixth (17.7%) admit to earning less.
“AI is creating more jobs than it takes. While many critics continue to speculate which jobs will be made redundant with AI tools, the data shows that freelance jobs which are labeled as the ‘most at risk to AI disruption’ are in fact growing. The preliminary results from our AI survey also dispel the myth that freelancer are earning less since the introduction of generative AI as more three quarters of workers we surveyed are either earning the same or earning more, with a subset taking advantage of AI and earning a lot more,” said Matt Barrie, Chief Executive at Freelancer.com.
The following charts show the fastest growing and fastest falling freelance jobs overall.
Freelancer.com Fast 50
The Freelancer.com Fast 50 index is the world’s largest forward indicator of trends in online jobs related to industries, technologies, products, and companies. The data is based on 251,000 jobs posted to the Freelancer.com platform between 1st April to 30th June 2024.
About Freelancer.com
Twelve-time Webby award-winning Freelancer.com is the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by total number of users and projects posted. More than 74 million registered users have posted over 23.8 million projects and contests to date in over 2,000 areas as diverse as website development, logo design, marketing, copywriting, astrophysics, aerospace engineering and manufacturing. Freelancer owns Escrow.com and Loadshift. Freelancer Limited is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker ASX:FLN and is quoted on OTCQX Best Market under the ticker FLNCF.
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Deciding between freelancing or finding another J-O-B. I’m not very good at sales so I’d have to hire a VA for that if I go out on my own. It’s exciting to have these choices thanks to the internet!