These are the top skills you need as a freelancer in 2023

 

By Samar Marwan

Approximately 58 million Americans have opted for temporary, contract, freelance, or gig work over full-time employment, according to McKinsey’s American Opportunity Survey. Around 36% of employed people identify as independent workers, including those who engage in independent work outside of their full-time positions.

On Wednesday, freelance marketplace platform Upwork unveiled its new report featuring the most highly sought-after freelance skills in tech, design, marketing, customer service, and accounting. Upwork says that in the past year, 60 million Americans did some type of freelance work, an all-time high.

As tens of thousands of workers across tech, finance, manufacturing, and real estate cope with the permanent reality of an unstable job market, more people are turning to independent work. Here are the most in-demand skills for 2023, according to Upwork.

Technology

    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

Marketing 

    SEO

    Social Media Marketing

    Other Digital Marketing

    Lead Generation

    Sales & Business Development

    Telemarketing

    Search Engine Marketing

    Email Marketing

    Marketing Strategy

    Marketing Automation

Customer Service & Administrative Support 

    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

Accounting & Consulting 

    Accounting

    Recruiting & Talent Sourcing

    Bookkeeping

    Financial Analysis & Modeling

    Management Consulting

    Instructional Design

    HR Administration

    Business Analysis & Strategy

    Tax Preparation

    Financial Management/CFO

Design & Creative 

    Graphic Design

    Video Editing

    Illustration

    3D Animation

    Presentation Design

    Image Editing

    Cartoons & Comics

    Product & Industrial Design

    2D Animation

    Video Production

Upwork determined the list by looking at earnings data on its platform from January through October of last year.

 

These are the top skills you need as a freelancer in 2023

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