Online staffing platform Freelancer.com reported the five most-requested skills in the first quarter included coding, building architecture, legal, home design and YouTube. Freelancer.com also reported 497,000 jobs were posted on its platform during the quarter. And while it’s unclear what implications Covid-19 will have long term, the company said it’s seeing encouraging signs for the gig economy.
“Since the Covid-19 pandemic proliferated in the last 30 days of Q1 2020, Freelancer.com has seen exponential growth in user sign-ups, suggesting a strong desire for individuals to get back to work and, in some cases, to do so on their own terms,” CEO and Chairman Matt Barrie said.
The Sydney, Australia-based company listed the fastest-growing jobs on its platform as well as those that are contracting the fastest:
Fastest-growing Q4 2019 vs. Q1 2020
| Name | Job Count Q4 2019 | Job Count Q1 2020 | % Increase |
| Coding | 1,021 | 1,206 | 18.1% |
| Building Architecture | 3,227 | 3,805 | 17.9% |
| Legal | 1,683 | 1,978 | 17.5% |
| Home Design | 1,031 | 1,208 | 17.2% |
| YouTube | 1,437 | 1,680 | 16.9% |
| Game Development | 2,174 | 2,511 | 15.5% |
| Legal Writing | 1,070 | 1,220 | 14.0% |
| Translation to Hindi | 1,154 | 1,315 | 14.0% |
| Interior Design | 2,140 | 2,407 | 12.5% |
| Audio Services | 3,545 | 3,933 | 10.9% |
| Blog Install | 3,985 | 4,413 | 10.7% |
| Instagram Marketing | 1,187 | 1,313 | 10.6% |
| 6,010 | 6,638 | 10.5% | |
| Unity 3D | 2,529 | 2,753 | 8.9% |
| Web Development | 3,645 | 3,965 | 8.8% |
| Metatrader | 1,575 | 1,701 | 8.0% |
| Website Design | 72,381 | 78,152 | 8.0% |
| Prestashop | 1,169 | 1,262 | 8.0% |
| Voice Artist | 1,250 | 1,341 | 7.3% |
|
Mobile App Development |
29,254 | 31,318 | 7.1% |
| iOS Development | 1,460 | 1,559 | 6.8% |
| React.js | 3,858 | 4,113 | 6.6% |
| API | 1,132 | 1,206 | 6.5% |
| PHP | 91,517 | 97,328 | 6.4% |
| Microsoft SQL Server | 2,045 | 2,172 | 6.2% |
Fastest-decreasing in demand Q4 2019 vs. Q1 2020
| Name | Job Count Q4 ’19 | Job Count Q1 20′ | % Decrease |
| BPO | 3,573 | 968 | -72.9% |
| Call Center | 3,680 | 1,625 | -55.8% |
| Microsoft Outlook | 1,240 | 589 | -52.5% |
| Fiction | 1,128 | 542 | -52.0% |
| Video Upload | 2,699 | 1,377 | -49.0% |
| Travel Writing | 1,504 | 776 | -48.4% |
| Speech Writing | 1,250 | 678 | -45.8% |
| Virtual Assistant | 15,564 | 8,677 | -44.3% |
| Reviews | 1,656 | 979 | -40.9% |
| Financial Research | 1,842 | 1,101 | -40.2% |
| Bookkeeping | 3,062 | 1,912 | -37.6% |
| General Office | 1,901 | 1,190 | -37.4% |
| eBooks | 3,279 | 2,077 | -36.7% |
| Medical Writing | 1,931 | 1,239 | -35.8% |
| Technical Support | 1,092 | 705 | -35.4% |
| Microsoft Office | 6,116 | 3,988 | -34.8% |
| Customer Service | 4,991 | 3,306 | -33.8% |
| Email Handling | 4,347 | 2,883 | -33.7% |
| Web Search | 18,461 | 12,281 | -33.5% |
| Translation to Russian | 1,846 | 1,229 | -33.4% |
| Translation to Italian | 1,325 | 890 | -32.8% |
| Product Descriptions | 2,710 | 1,821 | -32.8% |
| Copy Typing | 16,144 | 10,969 | -32.1% |
| Transcription | 5,662 | 3,849 | -32.0% |
| Management | 1,010 | 703 | -30.4% |