'Net Features : online employment

More SMBs Are Depending on Online Workers

Linc Wonham — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 22:00:00 GMT

Online employment platform Elance has released the results of its annual global survey on small business hiring, revealing a continued shift toward hiring contingent workers, with businesses turning to online talent as an indispensable employment strategy.

“These results are further proof that the online workforce is powering the economic recovery and support our prediction that 1 out of every 3 people hired in 2020 will be hired online,” says Fabio Rosati, CEO of Elance. “Online employment is expanding as a core strategy for companies around the world as they realize the tremendous benefits of hiring talent on-demand.”

The Online Road to Recovery
Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of the small business respondents plan to hire more online contractors this year than in 2011. The increase is driven by the surge in professionals available online, as 40 percent of companies surveyed claim they can find better talent online than what is available locally. By employing professionals online, businesses are able to stay agile and outperform the competition by hiring the skills they need just-in-time and on-demand.

The New Competitive Edge
According to the survey, 84 percent of businesses state that online hiring gives them an advantage over competitors, through significant improvements in flexibility, meaningful cost savings and increased productivity. Nearly 70 percent of businesses experience faster times-to-hire; overall cost savings are averaging 53 percent, and 55 percent of businesses are able to access talent not otherwise available.

Prophecy for an Online Work World
The next five years will be a tipping point for virtual work as small businesses predict the majority of their workforce (54 percent) will be online professionals. Web programming, graphic design and content development continue to remain the top three sought-after skills by businesses.

Europe Even More Bullish
European small businesses came out even stronger in support of online work, with 88 percent claiming it gives them an advantage over their competitors, and 45 percent stating they find better talent online than locally. Companies in Europe are also at the front of the curve with their prediction that 58 percent of their workforce will be online professionals within five years.

About the Survey
Elance conducted this online customer survey from May 21 to May 28, 2012, and more than 1,500 businesses participated.

Mobile Jobs Surge While Search Still Somewhat Slow

Linc Wonham — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:15:00 GMT

More than 170,000 jobs were posted on Freelancer.com in the first quarter of 2012, up from 130,000 in the previous quarter, according to the Freelancer Fast 50 – the company’s quarterly report on the 50 fastest growing online job categories.

“Projects are up over 30 percent compared to the previous quarter,” says CEO Matt Barrie. “The huge growth in outsourcing is made up of a wide range of different types of projects being completed in countries all across the globe.”

The following online freelance employment trends for Q1 2012 were identified in the report:

• Mobile app development grows: Android jobs rose 26 percent to 2,863 while iPhone jobs rose 27 percent to 4,318. The iPad category was up 19 percent to 1,828 jobs as “post-PC device” sales outstripped that of personal computers. The demand for mobile developers has been insatiable and will continue to grow as more businesses seek to offer their products and services on these platforms.

• Open standards will own the Web: HTML5 jobs rose 48 percent to 2,160 while jQuery jobs rose 39 percent to 2,324. This has been to the detriment of older and proprietary technologies such as Flash (down 1 percent to 2,697 jobs). The continued high growth of post-PC devices and iOS’ lack of support for Flash has forced many companies to switch to supported open standards.

• Overall outsourcing surges: Outsourcing of back-office and non-core functionality has seen a dramatic rise in the last quarter with business process outsourcing (BPO) showing the highest growth of any job category. BPO, up 303 percent to 5,150 jobs, performed the strongest, with data processing (up 187 percent to 18,349 jobs) and data entry (up 111 percent to 30,837 jobs) also solid performers. Businesses are also turning to online freelancers as a cost-effective means of providing around-the-clock customer support, as customer support jobs rose 89 percent to 1,173 jobs.

• Big increase in virtual assistant (VA) jobs: The VA category was up 144 percent to 3,205 jobs as many businesses that traditionally do office administration in-house are outsourcing these tasks as a result of the comparatively low cost of off-shore labor.

• Search remains stagnant: SEO jobs were “only” up 8 percent to 10,152 as the category remained comparatively stagnant. Despite a stronger recovery for SEO in late 2011, Google’s constant fight against low-quality link building has had a major impact on the SEO industry.

The report’s data was extracted from 172,936 jobs posted on Freelancer.com in Q1 2012.

Big Surge in IT, Design and Development Jobs

Linc Wonham — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Online employment platform Elance has released its quarterly Global Online Employment Report, and highlights include record numbers of 193,000 new job posts and contractor earnings of $43 million for the first quarter of 2012.

The number of businesses hiring on Elance for the first time jumped 21 percent, and new user registrations totaled 260,000 for the quarter. IT and marketing hiring managers looking for specialized talent posted more than 120,000 jobs.

Elance’s leading indicators suggest the economic outlook may be changing in the upcoming months. Demand for skills such as business card design (+51 percent), market research (+49 percent), branding (+44 percent) and lead generation (+39 percent) were all up significantly in Q1. This trend implies that companies are investing in new business development activities, possibly signaling expectations of increased growth.

Significant Rise in Creative
Creative (design, multimedia and writing) now accounts for 42 percent of total jobs posted on Elance. The rise in creative jobs has been driven by consumer demand for video, audio and visuals and by marketers incorporating this content into marketing and social media strategies. Graphic design jobs are now the second most demanded skill on Elance, and other skills in this category increased substantially in Q1, including video production (+68 percent), video editing (+56 percent), audio editing (+52 percent) and voiceover (+48 percent).

IT Continues to Dominate, Mobile is Up
Information technology remains the top category on the Elance platform in Q1 led by PHP (+33 percent) and HTML (+29 percent). Demand for mobile app developers continues, with 17,000 app jobs posted in the quarter. Job posts for Android developers rose 35 percent, and iPhone and iPad jobs increased 27 percent over last quarter. Demand for Blackberry (+14 percent) and Windows Mobile (+9 percent) apps trailed behind slightly but still experienced growth.

New Service Connects Developers to Freelance Marketplace

Linc Wonham — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMT

A new service from online employment platform Elance and application programming interface (API) management provider Mashery matches skilled developers with freelance API projects on Elance.

Through Developer Connect, developers with experience building Web and enterprise backend systems to mobile platforms like iOS and Android can quickly tap into Elance’s growing list of API integration projects. In addition, businesses can search the extensive pool of tested and rated contract developers to find the right talent for their next API integration projects.

“By partnering with Mashery, we offer businesses access to developers who can leverage APIs and build all kinds of apps,” says York Poon, vice president of product at Elance. “At the same time, we are increasing the number of API integration jobs available on the Elance platform.”

Businesses seeking developer talent for API integration projects are now able to browse and review pre-screened Elance professionals on the Developer Connect page on the Mashery website. Developer Connect also features an API Jobs category that allows developers to review and apply to new projects on Elance.

Online Freelance Jobs to Double in 2012

Linc Wonham — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:00:00 GMT

While global economies continue to struggle with job creation, online work thrived this year with 650,000 new jobs posted and cumulative earnings set to surpass $500 million, according to Elance’s just-released 2011 Online Employment Review.

The number of businesses hiring on Elance's online employment platform and the number of online professionals working on Elance grew more than 120 percent, the report says, and earnings for online professionals rose in more than 100 countries around the world. In the U.S., earnings rose in 43 out of 50 states, including some of the hardest-hit regions for unemployment such as Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina.

Other key data from the report includes the following:

Online Hiring
Businesses are developing innovative workforce models that blend full-time and part-time, local and remote, employed and contracted workers. The practice of hiring and managing talent online is spreading and 83 percent of small businesses surveyed by Elance plan to hire up to 50 percent of their workers as online contractors in the next 12 months.

More people are pursuing independent careers and using online platforms like Elance to reinvent their careers. The 2011 Elance survey of online freelance professionals indicated that nearly 1 in 3 workers began freelancing to be their own boss and work on the type of projects they love. The top benefits of online work cited include the ability to control their own schedule (90 percent), follow their passion (87 percent) and eliminate the commute (85 percent).

Hot Skills in Demand
The number of businesses seeking to hire online workers doubled in 2011. An analysis of the jobs posted on Elance this year highlights the following skills:

•    Software development skills such as HTML5 (+238 percent), Mobile (+137 percent), WordPress (+100 percent), Facebook (+66 percent) and Twitter (+47 percent)
•    Creative skills like Graphic Design (+176 percent) and Content Writing (+72 percent)
•    Marketing skills such as Internet Marketing (+132 percent), Marketing Communications (+53 percent) and Telemarketing (52 percent)
•    Administrative skills, including Transcription (+114 percent), Administrative Support (+87 percent) and Data Entry (+69 percent)
•    Consulting skills ranging from Product Manufacturing (+186 percent), Architectural Design (+185 percent), Financial Analysis (+140 percent) and Legal (+86 percent) to Business Strategy (+76 percent)

Predictions for 2012
In 2012, the market for online contingent work is set to double as more businesses across the globe hire and manage workers online for the first time, says the report. Below are four trends that Elance's research shows may shape the world of work in 2012:

•    The rise of the global, virtual workplace. Companies will increasingly tap into the online workforce across geographic boundaries to support key business initiatives. More professionals will build independent careers by working with multiple clients all over the world. Online contractors will collaborate with each other remotely, across geographies and time zones. Technological advancements enabling better online collaboration, telepresence, skills assessment and identity verification, will make significant contributions to the new virtual workplace.

• Professional services become America’s next great export. The global demand for U.S. talent has increased steadily over the past year and is set to grow even faster as online platforms like Elance and oDesk break down global barriers and open up opportunities for collaboration. In 2011, U.S.-based contractors exported their services to more than 140 countries, and global hiring of U.S. professionals saw a significant increase in more than 60 countries.

• Increased adoption of the contingent workforce elevates the importance of compliance. To tap the power of a flexible workforce, companies around the world will turn to online employment platforms to facilitate compliance with their internal controls and evolving government regulations.

•    Promising online careers for 2012. Online hiring for specialized skills will continue to expand in 2012. Promising online careers for 2012 include the following:

o    Software Developer
o    Visual Designer
o    User Experience Designer
o    Digital Marketer
o    Technical Writer
o    Web Researcher
o    Data Analyst
o    Content Moderator
o    Accountant
o    Distributed Workforce Manager

Bright Outlook for Online Workers

Linc Wonham — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Online employment platform Elance has released the results from its annual survey on small business hiring trends. The survey reveals the job outlook is bright for people working online as a multitude of businesses continue to adopt online hiring as a core strategy to remain agile in today’s economic climate.

Small and medium-sized businesses also show that adaptability and efficiency are key motivating factors for hiring online professionals with 73-percent of businesses citing the flexibility to scale up and down quickly as a key benefit and 60 percent indicating faster time to hire vs. traditional hiring approaches yielding huge time savings.

Below are some of the key findings from the survey:

Businesses Gain More Mileage with Hybrid Hiring Models
Growing numbers of companies are planning to scale up their online hiring after reaping the benefits of a flexible, on-demand team of experts. Eighty-three percent of businesses plan to hire at least 50 percent of their workers online in the next 12 months, and nearly half of all businesses plan to make 90 percent of their hires online. Only 10 percent of respondents plan to hire 90 percent onsite and 10 percent online in the next year, showing strong business interest in expanding internal teams with professionals in the cloud.

Online workers play a key role to businesses with 87 percent of survey respondents indicating that online contractors are a vital part of their business. Several key drivers that motivate businesses to hire online include cost savings (85 percent), flexibility to scale up and down (73 percent) and faster time to hire (60 percent). In fact, 94 percent experienced at least a 25-percent time savings by hiring online while 76 percent have cut their times by 50 percent or more. In addition, 89 percent of respondents have realized a significantly reduced time for project cycles while 66 percent sliced half or more off project completion times.

Experience Trumps Age and Cost in Online Hiring
While cost is commonly assumed as the number one reason companies hire online, businesses indicated that the top criteria for hiring online is experience shown through feedback/ratings (64 percent) and work samples/portfolio (63 percent). Only 30 percent of respondents cited cost as the top consideration for hiring online.

The survey also revealed that a degree from a top university is not an automatic edge for online professionals, with only 1% of businesses indicating that as a top hiring consideration. Further defying long held assumptions, none of the businesses cited age as the most important criteria for hiring online and 2 percent cited location.

Forecast Sunny for Hiring in the Cloud
With much of the country focused on job growth and hiring trends, the news from the traditional employment sector has brought little comfort. The survey revealed that 64 percent of businesses have not hired any new full-time equivalent employees in the past 12 months, and only 15 percent plan to hire a full-time employee or employees in the next 12 months.

In contrast, the outlook for online hiring shows promise: 84 percent of respondents made at least two online hires over the past year, and 75 percent of businesses plan on increasing or maintaining the level of spend on hiring online professionals over the next 12 months.

It’s Not Who You Know, But What You Do
Having a presence on the web is no longer just nice to have, but an essential business strategy. While businesses are tapping into online talent for literally hundreds of unique skills and talents, many are finding value in professionals who can contribute to the development, design and content germane to doing business online. Survey respondents cited Web Programmers/Developers (73 percent), Graphic Designer/Multimedia Experts (63 percent) and Writer/Blogger/Content Creators (39 percent) as the most valuable online professionals to their business in the last 12 months.

Working on Their Own Terms
Multitasking extends beyond the digital age as the survey revealed many professionals are moonlighting as entrepreneurs. Thirty-six percent of business respondents say they are starting or operating a business while working full or part-time traditional onsite jobs, while 57 percent of respondents own their own business as their full time job.

About the Study
Elance conducted this survey from August 16 to August 19, 2011. More than 300 U.S.-based Elance businesses participated in the online survey. Visit Elance for more information on the survey and to view results.

Online Employment Report Shows Record Earnings

Linc Wonham — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:30:00 GMT

Elance has released its quarterly Online Employment Report, revealing strong momentum in online work during a tumultuous summer for the U.S. and global economy.

With a current run rate of 600,000 jobs posted per year, demand for talent from companies ranging from startups to enterprises have increased over 61 percent year over year. Online contractors earned a record $34.3 million, up from $30.7 million in the previous quarter. Businesses hiring online and freelance professionals sparked a 23-percent increase in a single quarter in both the population of contractors and employers working online.

The record-setting amount of work completed was fueled by increasing demand across the board, including content creators such as illustrators, designers, writers, content moderators and programmers with hot skills such as Android, WordPress and Magento. You can review the full Elance Online Employment Report here.

Notable hiring trends this past quarter included the following:

High Tide for Content Creators
The proliferation of digital businesses, in social media, search engine optimization and online marketing, continues to drive demand for high quality content that increases customer acquisition and engagement. The demand for business writers is peaking this summer with a 21-percent increase, jumping 9 spots on the charts to No. 23. Blog Writing also saw a 9-percent increase in demand as businesses look to keep customers engaged in unique ways.

Infographics are the New Black
Demand for Infographics jumped a whopping 148 percent in one quarter. This growing trend of visual representation led Illustrators to a 27-percent increase in demand, causing a 9-position climb in Q2, and Photographers saw a 30-percent growth in demand.

WordPress Leads in the Content Management Race
More people than ever are turning to robust Content Management Systems (CMS) as their platform of choice when creating a new website for business. While demand for Drupal and Joomla! Programmers both saw a 5-percent increase in demand, WordPress programmers accelerated their lead with a very strong 11-percent growth and maintained the No. 2 slot on Elance for the third consecutive quarter.

Gearing up for the Holiday Season
Even though the summer heat still lingers on, some businesses already have their sights set for the holiday season and are now expanding their online stores by hiring a multitude of e-commerce Experts. Magento, recently acquired by eBay, is one of the fastest-growing, open-source e-commerce platforms in the market. On Elance, Magento moved up 10 slots to No. 48 with a 21-percent jump in demand in Q2.

Mobile Battleground: Apple on Fire
Demand for Android skills rose by 15 percent while the demand for Blackberry skills increased slightly by 3 percent and Windows Phone declined by 37 percent. However, the big winner this quarter appears to be Apple, as demand for iOS and Xcode skills showed impressive increases of 20 percent and 35 percent, respectively. It’s possible that the recent announcements at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) contributed to the increase in demand.

Average Commute: 1,167 Miles
Unconstrained by geography, the average telecommute for U.S. Elancers is 1,167 miles. California has the highest number of businesses hiring online, with Texas and New York following close behind. However, New York continues to be the U.S. capital for online work, claiming the No. 1 spot in IT and marketing and No. 2 in creative.

Working on the Web and the Millennial Effect

Linc Wonham — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:00:00 GMT

A new study released by online employment platform Elance examines job seekers born after 1981 and their attitudes and approaches to working on the Web.

Elance’s Millennial Contractor Survey revealed that technology and independence are critical for the next generation of workers, and also showed that Millennials are turning online to find employment, citing freelance work as a cornerstone of their career strategy.

Survey results also indicate that the traditional resume may be on its way out, with more than half (56 percent) of Millennials stating that they prefer a digital profile to the traditional resume.

Millennials also believe the best route to work is through the cloud, with more than half (54 percent) stating that telecommuting is a critical part of their career goals, while less than 13 percent want to work onsite at a company for the majority of their time.

The survey also revealed that 39 percent of Millennials characterize their work style as that of a freelancer, with the ability to choose their projects, employers and hours, versus that of an employee (15 percent), team member (20 percent) or entrepreneur (26 percent).

Ink-stained hands and circled ads may also be a thing of the past, as more than half of Millennials find 50 percent or more of their work online.

The laptop (62 percent) and desktop computer (34 percent) are still the most important tools for Millennials in business, while smartphones (3 percent) and tablet devices (2 percent) have a ways to go before replacing them as the critical technology for getting work done.

Online Jobs, Freelance Earnings Continue to Grow

Linc Wonham — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:00:00 GMT

Demand for Web contractors grew 32 percent in the first quarter of 2011, according to Elance’s most recent report. More than 135,000 jobs were posted with the online employment platform, and earnings grew 12 percent from the previous quarter.

Earnings for online workers increased in 40 out of 50 states, and more than a dozen cities with double-digit unemployment ranked in the top 50 earning cities on Elance. Businesses on Elance are posting nearly 50,000 new jobs each month, and online workers have earned a total of over $360 million on the platform.

Notable hiring trends of the first quarter of 2011 include the following:

Help (Definitely) Wanted
After cutting headcount to the bare minimum over the past few years, businesses are gearing up for growth in 2011 and adding resources to their teams. Many businesses are adopting hybrid hiring models, filling select positions on staff and supplementing with skill-specific hires online. New York tops the list of hiring cities, followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco and Brooklyn.

Show Me the Money
Leading the list of the Top 50 earning cities on Elance are New York, Austin, Texas and Los Angeles. Demonstrating that high earnings are not limited to urban metropolises, the Top 50 earning cities also included Plant City, Florida (No. 30), Chaska, Minnesota (No. 35) and Littleton, Colorado (No. 50).

What Unemployment Rate?
Nevada, with currently the highest unemployment rate in the U.S., saw online earnings grow 16 percent in the first quarter. California, with the second highest unemployment rate, grew 12 percent in online earnings. Oklahoma and Maine grew a whopping 118 percent and 65 percent, respectively, while Illinois grew an impressive 48 percent.

Most Creative City
Amarillo, Texas has retained its number one position for contractor earnings in the creative category on Elance. Austin, Texas jumped 10 spots in contractor earnings for IT skills in Q1 of 2011. San Jose, California leapfrogged three traditionally strong operations cities in Texas to become the Most Organized City, and New York City holds the No. 1 spot in Marketing.

Demand for Web Workers Continues to Rise

Linc Wonham — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 21:35:00 GMT

Online employment platform Elance has released its quarterly report, revealing record-setting hiring by small businesses in the fourth quarter of 2010. Increased hiring across all categories during what is traditionally a slow quarter further indicates that innovation and growth in the online employment marketplace will continue to rise throughout 2011.

The report also reveals that hybrid organization will be a growing trend in 2011, with companies adopting staffing models that include both onsite and online workers. Elance employers are posting more than 40,000 new jobs each month, and online workers have earned over $340 million on the platform. The surge in hiring aligns with recent findings by the Aberdeen Group that show contingent workers are expected to rise to 25 percent of the workforce in 2011, as employers and individuals seek greater flexibility in an increasingly dynamic marketplace.

Other notable hiring trends include the following:

IT is King
Signs of increased optimism about 2011 are seen at the end of 2010 as online employment shows record growth during a time typically associated with seasonal slowdown. Businesses posted more than 105,000 jobs in Q4 2010, showing an impressive 38-percent increase over the same quarter last year. Spend grew 11 percent quarter-over-quarter and 44 percent over the same quarter last year as online workers earned more than $27 million in Q4. Creative, marketing and operations sectors all experienced substantial growth. The king of Q4, however, was IT as spend on technology-related work outpaced other categories.

Mobile Continues to Fly; Android on Top
Demand for experts in mobile technologies continues to grow at an impressive pace with demand for iPad programmers growing 15 percent quarter-over-quarter, and iPhone programmers growing 10 percent. However, Android developers experienced even higher growth in Q4 thanks to a 20-percent rise in demand quarter-over-quarter. Demand for iOS and Android programmers is unlikely to slow down anytime soon, as Verizon and other carriers start selling Apple products, and a flurry of new Android devices announced at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show hit the market.

WordPress: The Undisputed Champ of Content
WordPress appears to have moved from top contender among open-source platforms for online content such as Drupal and Joomla! to the top choice. Over the course of 2010, demand for WordPress experts rose an impressive 15 percent quarter-over-quarter, moving up three highly coveted spots to No. 2, trailing only behind PHP programmers. This marks the first time that any content management system has moved into the top three skills in demand by businesses, solidifying it as the undisputed champ of content, for now.

Online Marketing: The Fastest Growing Segment
Demand for online marketing contractors and consultants is accelerating and is up 74 percent year-over-year, indicating that businesses are making heavy investments in online branding, media and customer acquisition strategies like social media marketing, affiliate marketing and search engine marketing, In Q4, social media marketing saw 20-percent growth and moved to No. 26 on the top 100 skills list, as more marketing dollars are being deployed across social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Facebook: Growing Demand, Getting Hotter
The demand for Facebook programmers grew 23 percent in Q4, moving up 11 positions on the top 100 skills list. Facebook experts are increasingly sought after as more businesses seek Facebook App development, Fan Page creation and Facebook Connect integrations.

HTML5 Explodes, Flash Holds Steady
With a huge 48-percent growth quarter-over-quarter, demand for HTML5 programmers continues to skyrocket as businesses look to not only revamp existing websites, but also create a presence on increasingly popular tablet and mobile devices. On the other hand, despite showing no significant growth in Q4, Flash continues to hold steady as a sought-after skill, indicating that businesses are not dropping the proprietary technology anytime soon.

Texas: The New Online Employment Hot Spot
In Q4 2010, Texas had more cities in the top 10 for online employment than any other state, and tied California for the most cities in the top 30. Dallas maintained its position at No. 4, Amarillo, a hot spot for writing talent, moved up a spot to No. 7, and Austin jumped up eight spots to No. 9. Other Q4 shakeups include Los Angeles moving up to the No. 2 position, Portland, Oregon moving up to No. 3, and San Francisco moving down to No. 5, while New York remains the No. 1 city based on contractor earnings.

Visit Elance to view the full Online Employment Report.

Online Workforce Expanding, Especially in Mobile and Social

Linc Wonham — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 17:46:00 GMT

A recent blog post that caught the attention of readers included a summary of the annual report from online employment platform Elance. Another Web employment marketplace, oDesk, has released its own year-end report with similarly positive views of both the year in review and the year ahead.

The report from oDesk says that employers spent $115 million on online work in 2010 and that job opportunities doubled from 2009 to approximately 602,000. Mobile was the best bet for job-seekers, and positions involving Android expertise shot up 680 percent from 2009 while iPhone-related jobs increased by 152 percent. Social media was not surprisingly the next hottest jobs category, and the hottest regions for online contractors were the Philippines, India and the United States.

For 2011, oDesk predicts that online work will continue to double year-over-year while local employment will not rebound to pre-recession levels. The report also predicted that more than 500,000 employers will hire cloud-based workforces for the first time, including 25 percent of the companies that make up the Fortune 500.

The number of people looking to make online work their primary source of income in 2011 will double, according to oDesk, and the hiring of online workers by companies outside of the U.S. will explode in the next year, the report says. U.S. spending on online work, meanwhile, will grow more slowly in 2011, representing 65 percent of the worldwide total.

Online Employment Trends to Expect in 2011

Linc Wonham — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:49:00 GMT

Elance, the leading platform for online employment, has released its 2010 Year in Review as well as a preview of the online work trends to expect in 2011.

The past year broke records for online work adoption as Elance posted more than 375,000 jobs during a period when traditional onsite employment was stagnant. Several key categories in online work proved to be virtually recession-proof, and technology and marketing skills were among the highest demand. Below are the areas that made the biggest impact in 2010:

• Mobile development: With a 98-percent increase for mobile development jobs posted on Elance in 2010, touchscreen tablets and smartphones were clearly the number one priority. In 2011, it will be absolutely key for businesses, startups and entrepreneurs looking to construct new websites or revamp existing ones to design with mobile in mind. Expect to see simpler, cleaner, more straightforward Web designs and a shift in design philosophy that puts mobile first and desktop second.

• Content creation: Keyword-rich content for search engine optimization (SEO) was king in 2010, but that simply won’t cut it next year and beyond. Search engines are finding new ways to differentiate quality original content by tracking social media buzz through sites like Facebook and Twitter, and businesses won’t be hiring content creators for quantity anymore – 2011 will be all about quality.

• Viral marketing: Businesses signaled a shift in investments for freelance talent that has gone from traditional marketing techniques like direct mail, telemarketing and other forms to more cutting edge forms of promotion and customer acquisition, like SEO, search engine marketing (SEM) and social media marketing (SMM). Traditional marketing will become even more obsolete in 2011 as businesses will be drawn toward viral and social marketing methods.

• HTML5 vs. Flash: The reports about the death of Flash have been greatly exaggerated, according to businesses working on Elance. While demand for HTML5 programmers continues to grow at an exceptional pace, Flash maintains its position as one of the leading platforms for rich media content due to the rising popularity of casual gaming on the Web and the loosening of Apple’s App Store restrictions.

And here are Elance’s online employment predictions for 2011:

• More businesses hire in the cloud: Businesses both large and small will adopt more robust online tools such as shared digital workrooms, real-time collaboration, telepresence, and online employment platforms to hire the people they need to get the job done. Online work won’t be just a buzzword in 2011 – it will be the way to do business, period.

• Digital profiles overtake resumes: Digital portfolios provide businesses and employers far more context and insight into a potential hire than any traditional resume ever could. In 2011, expect referencing of verified work history, digital portfolios, online test scores, online reviews, social graph and social media footprint to become the standard for hiring short or long-term employees.

• Business goes social: Social buying quickly went from a cool trend to an economic force, while demand for social media skills by businesses has grown significantly throughout the course of 2010. Shopping will not be the only industry to leverage the social graph in 2011, as recruiting and hiring will also undergo a socially inspired transformation.