According to Freelancer.com’s latest “Fast 50 Report,” jobs related to emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have become in demand among organizations and job seekers.

The report charts the quarterly movement of the top 50 fastest growing and declining job type categories within Freelancer.com’s online marketplace, which today includes more than 34 million people across 247 countries, regions and territories around the world. In the Q2 2019 “Fast 50 Report,” Freelancer.com’s data scientists and engineers pored over the more than 433,000 jobs posted on the site to analyze the latest trends in the job market and identify the skill sets that saw the biggest movement in demand.

“There are a couple of fascinating trends in this quarter’s Fast 50 Report,” said Matt Barrie, chief executive, Freelancer.com. “The first is the enormous demand for any skill relating to artificial intelligence and machine learning. The potential applications for machine learning technology seem limitless, and we expect demand in this area to continue growing. The second big trend is large companies moving toward a more agile and leaner workforce that addresses their immediate needs. This is evident in the number of administrative skills in this quarter’s Fast 50, and, anecdotally, in the increasing demand we’re seeing for Freelancer Enterprise, our platform solution for large organizations.”

Top freelancing Jobs Q2 2019

The top 10 jobs which have shot up the scale this year are customer service, copy typing, bookkeeping, academic writing, data processing, react native, statistical analysis, machine learning, Spanish, algorithm, and virtual assistant. In addition to these skills, freelancing jobs related to Statistics and Mathematics are Q2 2019’s rising stars, along with Mechanical Engineering. All three categories posted strong gains over the quarter.

Two trends are evident in this quarter’s “Fast 50 Report.” The first is the rise in skills related to artificial intelligence, such as ML, statistical analysis, and data processing. Overall, there’s a heavy tech focus in this quarter’s “Fast 50.” The second trend is toward a leaner, more distributed workplace. Following on the trend evident in Q1’s “Fast 50 Report,” more companies are turning to freelancers for their day-to-day operations work, such as customer service, bookkeeping, and copy typing.

Demand decline

Several skills in the Freelancer “Fast 50” saw a decline in Q2, though declines in demand were much less pronounced than in Q1, suggesting the freelance marketplace is healthy and robust. The skills that saw the largest declines were PrestaShop, PSD to HTML, Joomla, and writing.

The decline in PrestaShop, a platform for e-commerce sites, is particularly interesting considering the rise in Q1 demand for Shopify skills. Considering PrestaShop and Shopify are competitors, it could be an indication that Shopify is winning the e-commerce war.

However, the freelancing marketplace remains fluid, and skills that fall out of vogue in one quarter can see a huge uplift in demand the next. The overall trend appears to be one in which more businesses recognize the value provided by skilled freelancers. The freelance marketplace is in an excellent position in 2019.

Rising stars: the emerging jobs to watch

Algorithm
Another vital skill for ML and AI applications, demand for algorithm skills rose 32.34% in Q2 2019 (from 2,489 to 3,249). Any skill set related to ML is set to be in hot demand, with Statistics also rising 31.83% (from 1,800 to 2,373). Freelancers already skilled in this area are perfectly positioned, while those who have yet to skill up should do so now or risk being left behind.

Engineering
The recent launch of Arrow Plus powered by Freelancer is providing vital engineering solutions to Arrow Electronics’ clients all over the world. The impact of this partnership is already evident, with demand for Engineering skills up 31.93% for Q2 2019. Freelancers with backgrounds in Electrical and Electronic Engineering can also expect to see an uplift in demand for their skills.