Freelancing, also known as independent work or self-employment, is a new form of work that is becoming more prevalent in the contemporary age. Earning income equivalent to a full-time job at the comfort of your home has captivated people. Increasingly more people are choosing to become freelancers, especially as they may have a better work-life balance, higher salaries, and increased job satisfaction.
According to the Upwork platform, companies are fighting for hiring the best talent in the market in order to stay competitive. Even if this means hiring independent employees that offer their value of services instead of traditional full-time employees.
Based on a recent report by Upwork, “53% of all freelancers provided skilled services such as computer programming or marketing this past year, up from 50% in the year prior”. The increased demand for tech skilled freelancers continues to grow. This is mainly because many big and small businesses are planning to fill the gap needed for critical skills by hiring talented individual workers.
Digital technology is a reality of our time. People are constantly seeking information through the means of digital platforms and trying to use it to their advantage. This is true of both the business world and the personal world.
Freelancing is attractive, but you need to plan ahead and figure out what career will suit you best before quitting your day job. Technological skills are very important for a freelancer because they can help them adapt to the rapidly changing technology that is changing the way businesses communicate and work.
5 Most In-Demand Freelance Tech Skills
Statistic research by Upwork represented the most sought-after technical skills between January 2021 and October 2021. Below listed are five of them.
1. Web Designing
Websites play a crucial role in various processes for any organisation. Websites can be used to publicize products, services, or companies. These websites provide an opportunity to explain products and services or promote new businesses. Creating a website is known as web designing.
A “web designer” is someone who creates websites, and sometimes uses a website as a medium for transmitting information to customers. The web designer creates websites for a variety of purposes, including marketing, advertising, and PR.
The demand for a web designer is expected to grow the most compared to any other occupation. According to Tiffany Davidson, the demand for web designers is said to increase by 8% between 2019-2029.
2. WordPress Developing
WordPress is a web-based platform that creates a website with the help of a server(CMS). It is a fully documented software that runs on a server and can be accessed via a network. WordPress enables the creation of blogs, webpages, and blog plugins. It enables the creation of social networking sites as well as blogs. It is free online software that allows people to publish their thoughts, images, and files on the internet.
The online world is growing faster than ever. Particularly, post pandemic, it has become a need for companies to shift online to digital and e-commerce platforms. According to Upwork, out of all the websites, 39.5% are backed up by WordPress. Any individual who can help a company develop its website through WordPress according to its specifications is in high demand.
3. Web Programming
Web programming focuses on the writing, building and coding of the website rather than design or outlook. Web programmers are usually well equipped with coding languages such as HTML, Javascript, PHP, Perl 5, and XML.
Web programmers who work as freelancers carry out single projects of creating websites for various clients and get paid for each creation. As a freelance web programmer, you get to set your own price and choose how many projects you want to complete and for whom.
4. Shopify Developing
The Shopify platform enables companies to create an online store that can be accessed by anyone easily using a computer, tablet or smartphone easily by people. This store is used to sell its products across different geographical regions. Discovering new brands, developing new websites, and marketing new products are all part of the Shopify platform
Along similar lines, a Shopify developer helps a company build their brand on the Shopify platform. A Shopify developer helps you build a website with powerful tools to help you make your brand presence online on the Shopify platform. The developer customises your Shopify store by setting a theme, handling orders, adding product images and descriptions, and analysing user activity.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, people have been keen to buy products online. This has motivated many businesses to shift to e-commerce platforms. Therefore, the increase of freelance Shopify developers has been expected to grow to a great extent.
5. Graphic Designing
Graphic design is the art and science of representing ideas and visual information in a way that best represents the information. It is a highly visual art, that employs visual and narrative elements, which can be used to communicate ideas, feelings, and emotions.
Designing a graphic design for a business is a challenging task. You have to understand the needs of the customer, and the desired design and have a clear understanding of the process of design. Designing a graphic design is a multi-step process, there is no one size fits all. A good graphic designer must be able to communicate the message clearly by fulfilling all the requirements of the client.
The right graphic designer can help you break through the clutter and connect with your target market via captivating visuals. Whether you need a new logo, posts for your social media or blog content, a graphic designer is your go-to person for all these requirements.
