Top Industries Looking For Freelance Work In Difficult Times
Covid-19 Pandemic and The Great Recession are completely unrelated and unavoidable international situations; one is a global pandemic on a scale never seen before, and the other was a complete financial breakdown of the previous U.S. housing bubble and a global financial crisis. But many business people’s responses to both troubled times were profoundly similar: get a second job.
As the saying goes: when the going gets tough, the tough get going. While organizations will try their best to retain their current workforce, there might be unfortunate circumstances where they have to resort to giving their workers fewer hours.
For this year’s case, particularly hard-hit industries are the tourism, hotelier, accommodation, airlines-aviation, leisure facilities and fine-dining sector. Government restrictions on flights and travel as well as individuals refraining from eating out for fear of contracting Covid-19 are circumstances beyond our control.
So, you’re from one of these sectors or were indirectly affected and have lost all or part thereof of your livelihood.
What now?
Of course, you have thought about freelancing.
But where do you start?
We got you covered! Here are the top 5 industries that are absolutely bursting with vacancies despite these troubled times.
- IT and programming roles
Many organizations are finally accepting the fact that this pandemic will never really go away. The early adopters have already banded together and started to migrate their local servers onto online cloud repositories.
As the digital world becomes the new way people are shopping, brick and mortar companies are scrambling to create apps and optimize their websites to enhance user experience.
The next-generation mobile apps are either coded on Flutter or Ionic, so if you are well-versed in any of these two coding tools then you are in luck. There is quite a high demand for UX (user experience) designers as well as frontend coders.
Studies show that 38% of people mentioned that they will stop engaging with a website if the contents or website layout is unattractive and not optimized (statistics from Sweor, 2021). So companies are rushing to hire IT specialists that specialize in website responsiveness and Javascript too.
- HR and Recruiting
Hiring managers and recruiters typically fall into this category. There has been a remarkable boom in the HR sector since the restrictions on travel have put many 9-5 businesses in a pinch. With fewer people in the office and more individuals working remotely, organizations are outsourcing their recruiting tasks as for some, recruiters are only needed on a temporary basis. Furthermore, recruiters specializing in one field of expertise have an extensive network that in-house recruiters might not possess.
- Logistic Roles
The logistics industry is yet another sector that has boomed. You’re probably wondering how that happened since everyone was staying at home.
Here’s how.
The global pandemic and government restrictions have restricted everyone’s ability to move about and travel. Many are also reluctant to leave their home for fear of contracting the deadly virus. It has culminated into the perfect golden goose for Amazon, GrabFood, Foodpanda and other logistics companies to take advantage of. Everyone was ordering in, no one was going out. The perfect recipe for success for delivery companies worldwide.
Not convinced? Here’s an interesting statistic for you. Jeff Bezos’ (founder of Amazon) net worth exploded by USD75 billion to reach an amazing USD188 billion as of the end of January 2021. You can be sure that logistic roles are in high demand.
- Digital Marketing Specialists
Marketing, copywriting, creative writing, as well as digital consulting, are one of the roles that are commonly outsourced by companies. But since the pandemic, digital growth and the switch to e-commerce have caused a ripple effect across all marketing roles with many marketers seeing an increase of up to 40% in web traffic.
The good thing about marketing is that it is an umbrella term that covers many creative as well as analytical freelancing roles. Marketing roles regarding sales are copywriters, creative writers, as well as market communication specialists and web funnel creators. The aforementioned roles use varied methods to help drive customer footfall and sales to a company website or store.
Another type of marketer specialization would veer more towards the analytical side. These include search engine optimization roles, market research executives, and data and customer behavioral analysts. Taking up these roles requires a good, logical mindset and a good grasp of analytical decision-making.
While it is one of the more popular side gigs with multiple freelancing opportunities, it is also a fairly competitive market. You should definitely specialize in one role or you will not be able to differentiate yourself from the other freelancers out there.
- Content Creator (Influencers or Videographers)
With the rise in video content platforms like TikTok, Meitu, Reels, and Dubsmash, many freelancers are showing off their creative side by creating engaging short videos for their audiences. And since their engaged audience typically mirrors the influencer’s own demographic, companies are leveraging them to spread brand awareness of their products.
In return for sponsoring their products, sometimes complemented with some cash incentives, these influencers will help promote the products to a wide range of audiences. Start-ups are quite fond of this method as they tend to hire 10-50 small influencers to spread the word about their new products. Some contracts even offer a commission if the freelancer manages to sell a certain quota of products from the advertisement.
Do you have experience or valuable skill sets in any of the above side gig roles? If you do, then you should definitely start selling them!
If you’re not experienced or are unfamiliar with the industry, now is a good time as any to start learning a new skill or brushing up on your experience. Upskilling should be a continuous and never-ending process, and when you get good at it, it opens up new doors for you career-wise as well.
And if you do not feel too keen on any of the above-mentioned industries, well there are so many more freelancing roles out there for you to try out! We have only listed the top 5 sectors with vacancies. There are even more freelancing gigs out there for you to explore!
Happy side gig hunting!
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