Upwork Unveils Most In-Demand Skills for Independent Professionals in 2023
January 18 2023 - 9:00AM
Upwork (Nasdaq: UPWK), the world’s work marketplace that connects
businesses with independent talent, today announced the most
in-demand skills that organizations are expected to seek from
skilled professionals on Upwork in 2023, across technology,
marketing, customer service & admin support, accounting &
consulting, and design & creative.
At a time when companies continue to face a persistent talent
shortage and navigate economic uncertainty, Upwork’s new report
reveals the extent to which businesses are increasingly turning to
skilled freelance professionals to meet key project needs and
address skills gaps. At the same time, millions of professionals
are reevaluating their priorities, exploring new ways of working
and redefining what it means to have a fulfilling career,
especially in light of variability across the labor market. Recent
Upwork data shows 60 million Americans performed freelance work in
the past 12 months, representing 39% of the U.S. workforce, an
all-time high.
“We are experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime, tectonic shift in the
notion of work, where skilled professionals are rethinking what
they want from their careers, and are gravitating toward the
flexibility, autonomy and benefits of freelancing,” said Margaret
Lilani, VP of talent solutions at Upwork. “At the same time, the
uncertain economic environment is pushing businesses to explore new
solutions to stay competitive and they’re finding unlocked
potential in the growing pool of skilled independent professionals.
As we kick off 2023, it’s a perfect time for freelancers to expand
their skillsets or break into a new career, while companies seek
independent talent across a broader range and at a higher rate than
ever before.”
Upwork’s most in-demand skills lists reveal the essential role
that highly skilled independent talent will play in filling talent
gaps and solving businesses' most pressing needs in 2023. Among the
list of most in-demand skills, those with the highest
year-over-year growth on the Upwork platform within the noted
categories are sales & business development (54%), data entry
(47%), accounting (45%), and 3D animation (44%).
“As we enter a new year during uncertain economic times,
professional freelancing is a great way to leverage your talents,
build new skills, and diversify and protect your income,” said
Kevin Campbell, a full stack web developer with over $1 million in
earnings on Upwork. “Businesses are always searching for skilled
independent talent, especially now. Not only is the demand for my
services at an all-time high, but I’m in complete control of how I
want to design my career – where I work, when I work, who I work
with, and how I define success – it’s a really positive position to
be in.”
Upwork’s Top 10 Most In-Demand Tech Skills for 2023:
- Full Stack Development
- Front-End Development
- Back-End Development
- Mobile App Development
- Web Design
- Ecommerce Website Development
- UX/UI Design
- CMS Development
- Manual Testing
- Scripting & Automation
Upwork’s Top 10 Most In-Demand Marketing Skills for 2023:
- SEO
- Social Media Marketing
- Other Digital Marketing
- Lead Generation
- Sales & Business Development
- Telemarketing
- Search Engine Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Marketing Strategy
- Marketing Automation
Upwork’s Top 10 Most In-Demand Customer Service & Admin
Support Skills for 2023:
- Email, Phone & Chat Support
- General Virtual Assistance
- Data Entry
- Digital Project Management
- General Research Services
- Tech Support
- Dropshipping & Order Processing
- Community Management
- Market Research
- Transcription
Upwork’s Top 10 Most In-Demand Accounting & Consulting
Skills for 2023:
- Accounting
- Recruiting & Talent Sourcing
- Bookkeeping
- Financial Analysis & Modeling
- Management Consulting
- Instructional Design
- HR Administration
- Business Analysis & Strategy
- Tax Preparation
- Financial Management/CFO
Upwork’s Top 10 Most In-Demand Design & Creative Skills for
2023:
- Graphic Design
- Video Editing
- Illustration
- 3D Animation
- Presentation Design
- Image Editing
- Cartoons & Comics
- Product & Industrial Design
- 2D Animation
- Video Production
Connect with skilled, global, in-demand talent on Upwork’s work
marketplace. For further information on these skills and how to
apply them, please tune into an online Q&A with Margaret
Lilani, VP of talent solutions at Upwork, on January 24, 2023 on
our community events page.
Methodology
Skills data was sourced from the Upwork database and is based on
United States freelancer earnings from January 1, 2022 to October
31, 2022. Each skill had a minimum of 500 projects with active work
during the period. Year-over-year growth was estimated by comparing
the freelancer earnings in 2022 to freelancer earnings in the same
period in 2021.
About Upwork
Upwork is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from
one-person startups to over 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful,
trust-driven platform that enables companies and talent to work
together in new ways that unlock their potential. Our talent
community earned over $3.3 billion on Upwork in 2021 across more
than 10,000 skills in categories including website & app
development, creative & design, customer support, finance &
accounting, consulting, and operations. Learn more at
www.upwork.com and join us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram, and TikTok.
Contact:press@upwork.com
An infographic accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9673fbc1-98f5-4592-b778-e2bf0579251c
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