The 10 fastest-growing online freelance jobs of Q3 2018

Developers, social media experts, and creatives looking to pick up some extra money in the freelance market are in luck, as these skills are among the fastest-growing in online demand, according to a Monday report from Freelancer.com.

The report tracked the top 50 fastest growing and declining job categories within its online marketplace, which represents 30 million people across 247 countries, regions, and territories.

Demand for freelance workers has risen sharply in recent years, thanks to talent shortages faced by many enterprises and the rise of the gig economy. The majority of hiring managers (59%) are already tapping freelance talent, and of those, more than half (57%) said they expect to use even more of these workers in the next 10 years, according to a recent report from Upwork.

SEE: IT jobs 2018: Hiring priorities, growth areas, and strategies to fill open roles (Tech Pro Research)

However, the market demand for these professionals can shift rapidly, the Freelancer.com report noted, with particular skills rising and falling in popularity depending on market cycles and long-term trends. Therefore, it's important for freelance workers to closely monitor quarterly job trends and determine how to best leverage their skillset.

In terms of freelance skills on decline this quarter, demand for Matlab experts dropped the furthest, declining 34%, along with the demand for those skilled in the programming language R (declined 32%), and mathematics skills in general (31%).

Here are the 10 fastest-growing online freelance jobs of Q3 2018.

1. Copy typing

Open jobs in Q3: 5,203

Percent growth over Q2: 27%

2. React.js

Open jobs in Q3: 2,121

Percent growth over Q2: 26%

3. ASP

Open jobs in Q3: 2,138

Percent growth over Q2: 22%

4. Adobe Flash

Open jobs in Q3: 1,890

Percent growth over Q2: 20%

5. Word

Open jobs in Q3: 3,439

Percent growth over Q2: 17%

6. Data processing

Open jobs in Q3: 13,282

Percent growth over Q2: 17%

7. Social networking

Open jobs in Q3: 2,283

Percent growth over Q2: 17%

8. Facebook marketing

Open jobs in Q3: 6,733

Percent growth over Q2: 15%

9. Illustrator

Open jobs in Q3: 27,948

Percent growth over Q2: 14%

10. node.js

Open jobs in Q3: 3,825

Percent growth over Q2: 13%

The big takeaways for tech leaders:

• Copy typing, React.js, and ASP are the fastest-growing freelance skills of Q3 2018. — Freelancer.com, 2018
• Matlab, R, and mathematics skills are the fastest declining freelance skills of Q3 2018. — Freelancer.com, 2018

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Also see

• Special report: IT jobs in 2020: A leader's guide (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
• The need for automation skills is exploding, freelance survey finds (ZDNet)
• How to become a developer: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic)
• Freelance workers targeted in new malware campaign (ZDNet)
• The 20 fastest-growing skills for freelancers (TechRepublic)