Freelancer.com announced its quarterly Fast 50 Index for Q2 2024, derived from data on 251,000 jobs posted to the platform. The data indicates a high demand for freelance skills in computer security, writing, and business.
According to Freelancer.com, computer security, up 27.1% from 868 to 1,103 jobs, has emerged as the fastest-growing freelance skill on Freelancer.com from April 1 to June 30, 2024. This trend indicates that more small-to-medium businesses are turning to freelancers for cybersecurity support, a trend further backed by network administration.
The data shows that generative AI tools have not negatively impacted freelance jobs, with growth seen in writing, business service, and legal skills. PDF writing increased by 26.7%, Microsoft Word projects by 23.9%, and copy typing grew by 11.6%. Legal jobs also saw an increase, with legal research up by 10.8%. According to Freelancer.com's annual AI survey of over 4,100 workers globally, more than half of the respondents are earning the same or more since the introduction of AI tools.
"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," said Matt Barrie, chief executive at Freelancer.com. "The preliminary results from our AI survey also dispel the myth that freelancers are earning less since the introduction of generative AI as more than 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," Barrie added.
Freelancer.com is recognized as the largest freelancing and crowdsourcing platform worldwide and links over 72 million employers and freelancers from 247 countries, regions, and territories. The platform provides employers with opportunities to engage freelancers across various fields such as software development, writing, design, engineering, sales, marketing, accounting, and legal services.