MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA — (Marketwired) — 05/07/13 — , the leading online work platform, today released its revealing that its network of online professionals jumped 52%, led by a 153% increase in freelancers with skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Overall hiring on Elance increased 60% in Q1 2013.
“The surge in online work is driven by growth in both supply and demand for skilled professionals,” said Fabio Rosati, CEO of Elance. “Highly skilled individuals are choosing Elance to build their freelance careers and connect with clients looking to hire. We believe this online work trend will continue to accelerate and predict 1 in 3 people will be hired online by 2020.”
While traditional jobs remain vacant an average of 23 business days, , the average time-to-hire on Elance was only 3.3 days. Faster hiring online not only reflects the improvements in matching technology on the Elance platform but also the inherent efficiency of the online hiring process: hiring managers are able to view a candidate-s previous work history and initiate interviews in minutes.
Experts in STEM industries are experiencing an unprecedented level of growth on Elance; freelancers with STEM skill sets have increased 153% year-over-year. The demand for mobile and cloud talent continues to soar: job posts calling for expertise in Windows Azure (+248%), (+38%), (+97%) and Android (+71%) have all surged in Q1 2013 versus a year ago. Cross-platform keeps up with a 72% growth, and job posts for software languages like Python and C# have grown 132% and 117%, respectively.
Bitcoin-s popularity is trending upward in online work as the demand for Bitcoin skill sets has leaped 433%. In addition, while there was no single Google Glass job posting last year, the demand for both technical and business-oriented experts has surged on Elance. Before printing hits mainstream, job posts seeking talent to help with modeling and design have already increased 206%.
Your data and systems are in the cloud, and so is your assistant. The demand for virtual assistants is up 85% compared to a year ago. Skills such as online research and have surged 78% and 52%, respectively. Today-s admin assistants use cloud productivity tools like Dropbox, Prezi, Google Docs, and Skype in addition to mastering traditional skills like researching data, creating presentations, writing supplier letters, culling social media content, responding to emails and managing calendars for their clients.
Businesses are creating more videos to engage with customers and enhance the customer experience. YouTube commercials, introduction videos, product tours and instructional videos are easier to consume on mobile devices and more effective than lines of copy. This is driving demand for and editing (+80%) and (+73%).
hit a record high in Q1 2013 and many young professionals are taking the matter into their own hands, escaping their local economies and working online. In particular, Spain, with a youth unemployment rate surpassing 55%, has shown 100% growth in freelancer registrations. And with youths facing near online work offers an escape plan, with freelancer registrations growing 126%.
More Q1 data and trends analysis is available in the . Additional insights can be found in the section of the Elance website.
Elance is where people Work Differently. A pioneer in today-s freelance revolution, Elance connects the world through work.
Today over 500,000 businesses and 2 million freelancers use Elance in 170+ countries. Innovative global enterprises, small businesses and startups tap into the Elance talent pool, building teams from software engineers, application developers and web and graphic designers to copywriters, market researchers, data scientists, social media marketers, customer service agents and other business professionals. More than 1 million freelance jobs are completed through Elance annually.
Headquartered in Mountain View, California and Oslo, Norway, Elance is a privately-held company. For more information, visit .
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