Employers are always trying to increase their flexibility when it comes to staffing requirements, and many of them are now embracing ‘gig culture’ as they choose to employ freelancers on a project-by-project basis rather than on long-term contracts. This gives employers the benefit of finding the right expert for their job, vetting candidates online for their suitability and being able to work within a budget that suits them.

But where does that leave you? Well, if you’re looking to get in on the freelance market you need to know what sort of skills these employers are looking for. And unsurprisingly, they are mainly focussed on technology and developing a company ‘brand’ with many employers looking to recruit specialists in the field now to get ahead of their competitors. All of the roles on our list have experienced a minimum of 125% year-on-year growth.

Animation

We’re not just talking about kids cartoons here, but also entertaining Youtube animations that can help build a business and showcase the animator’s skills for future work. Marketing is essential for any product, and so it’s no surprise that businesses are also looking to embrace this by using animations to describe how their products work. This very visual medium allows consumers to get to know the product quickly, making it a great way of promoting a top seller. Those in animation are also highly skilled, knowing a multitude of programs that make them able to pick up other supplementary work and work within many job roles in the industry.

SEO Writing

A key part of marketing is getting the SEO right. After all, if you’ve got a beautiful website full of glossy images and engaging writing, but it never gets off page 10 of Google listings, no-one is going to see it. This is why businesses are keen to hire experts in Search Engine Optimization to make sure that their company message gets out there, and their products and services sell. SEO writing doesn’t just have to be web copy, though. Many websites have an additional blog with interesting business-related articles on there designed to draw in potential customers. SEO is also important for keywords in product descriptions, making those who understand SEO very in demand in the current market.

English Proofreading

Nothing looks less professional than a business proposal or a website littered with spelling and grammatical errors, so proofreading has always been a popular freelancing role. There has also been an increase recently from students who are seeking perfection on their essays and dissertations. Employers are often looking to cut costs where they can to face limited budgets, so are choosing to employ their SEO writers from non-English natives. While many of these writers will have an excellent grasp of the English language, English proofreading is often needed to tidy up the sentence structure and the odd grammatical issue that has crept in. This trend for employing overseas writers has made a case for an English proofreader even stronger.

Shopify Development

Around 70% of Americans shop online, so if you’re a business, you need to make sure that a customer’s shopping experience is quick and simple. Otherwise, they’re likely to find somewhere else to shop. That’s where Shopify developers come in. Almost half a million websites use Shopify worldwide to sell their wares – a number that has increased dramatically over the past few years, with little sign of slowing down. Those who know Shopify are in demand thanks to their knowledge of the online store builder, although uniquely, Shopify can be used for physical POS’s too, meaning that there is a wide potential customer base for those who get to grips with the software.

ASP Development

Those people who know ASP development are often highly skilled in many languages such as Perlscript, VBScript, and JScript to create apps, legacy pages, and software. They also cover a wide range of roles from creating and managing databases for websites, creating the websites themselves and also improving website functionality by using Component Object Model. With all this knowledge, it is easy to see why those in ASP development are in high demand.

User Experience Design

User Experience Designers aim to improve the experience of those using a product by making the interface interactive and easy to use. They can come from a variety of specialisms, from web design or mobile app design to having extensive knowledge of Photoshop editing or Adobe Illustrator. Good design is essential to the success of your product, app or website to help them to stand out from the crowd, so people in these roles are some of the most in-demand on Freelance sites.

While these are the most popular job roles requested on freelance sites, there is no reason to be disheartened just because your skillset doesn’t stretch to these. Forbes suggests that by 2020, one in two employees in the UK or the US will be a freelancer, with the labor market growing at 3.5% per year. And with employers saving on average $7.700 per full–time freelancer employed, the popularity of freelancers is bound to increase well into the future, providing opportunities for people from all types of background.