Online job site Indeed said on Friday it analysed the freelance job market in India between January 2019 and 2021 showing 22 per cent jump in hiring during January as compared to the same month in 2019.
As the pandemic disrupted the job market compelling orgsations to restructure their workforce, data on Indeed concurrently shows that postings for freelance jobs spiked between May and June 2020, a near two-fold increase from the same period in 2019.
With implementation of work-from-home structures, job search activity after March 2020 was consistently higher than pre-pandemic levels, peaking in April 2020. However, data shows that at any point in time, freelance job postings have outstripped freelance job searches.
Indeed also studied the nature of freelance jobs against rapid digitisation and skilling of India's workforce. Data shows a concentration of freelance jobs in the creative, tech, sales and recruitment fields with these sectors contributing 55 per cent of the freelance jobs posted on Indeed.
As of January 2021, freelance writer was the most in-demand job in this segment followed by freelance designer, recruiter, developer and digital marketer. Business development executive and PhP developer also emerged in the top 10 freelance job titles in India.
Indeed looked at understanding if freelance jobs were more sought after by some age groups over others. Data highlights that searches for freelance jobs were highest in the 20 to 29 year age group with this cohort contributed to 73 per cent of freelance job searches on Indeed in January this year.
Sashi Kumar, Managing Director of Indeed India, said pushing the freelance community to the fore, the pandemic year witnessed increased hiring and search momentum for freelance jobs on Indeed.
"We believe that changes in external job environment and added flexibility of work-from-home has significantly improved the attitude of employers and job seekers towards freelance jobs," he said
"In addition to optimising productivity, freelancing provides a sense of ownership and creative freedom that are sought after -- especially by the younger and more agile workforce."
More than 250 million people each month search for jobs, post resumes and research compes on Indeed.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor