By Karen Axelton
Hiring independent contractors online was one of the hottest management trends for 2011, according to Elance, an online employment platform. The 2011 Employment Review from Elance reports the number of businesses seeking to hire online workers doubled in 2011. Even though the traditional employment market was stagnant last year, online hiring grew at a record pace, increasing more than 100 percent compared to 2010. Online work thrived this year with 650,000 new jobs posted on Elance and earnings of Elance contractors reaching $156 million.
For 2012, this trend isn’t slowing down—in fact, Elance’s data shows online hiring will grow even more this year. In the next 12 months, 83 percent of small businesses Elance surveyed expect to hire as many as 50 percent of their workers as online contractors.
For 2011, the skills that were most in demand among online workers were software development (with rising demand for HTML5, mobile, WordPress, Facebook and Twitter), creative and marketing (with rising demand for graphic design, Internet marketing, content writing, marketing communications and telemarketing), administration (with rising demand for transcription, admin support, data entry, research and customer service) and consulting (with rising demand for product manufacturing, architectural design, financial analysis, legal and business strategy).
Technical skills will be hot commodities this year as well. For 2012, Elance says the 10 most promising online careers are:
1. Software Developer
2. Visual Designer
3. User Experience Designer
4. Digital Marketer
5. Technical Writer
6. Web Researcher
7. Data Analyst
8. Content Moderator
9. Accountant
10. Distributed Workforce Manager
Elance also predicts that 2012 will see an even greater move toward globalization, as companies hire professionals from all over the world thanks to technological advancements that make it easier and more secure to collaborate online and communicate 24/7.
One thing to be aware of if you’re using online “virtual” workers: It’s more important than ever to be in compliance with IRS laws regarding independent contractors. Be sure you know what rules apply to your workers, wherever in the world they are.
Image by Flickr user photologue_np (Creative Commons)
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Tags: small business, Workforce
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