The recent COVID-19 pandemic has brought the entire world to its knees by forcing everyone to stay at home due to global threats resulting from the outbreak. The government has to take proactive measures in order to save lives and limit the spread of the disease. This has resulted in so many businesses and organizations folding up and laying off their staff because they could not afford to pay their salaries. It was estimated that about 400 million jobs were lost globally as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, despite so many losses of jobs, there has been a serious change in how companies and organizations work. This creates a great opportunity for those willing to seize it. Companies now prefer to work remotely which prompts them to either train their staff to operate in a digital workspace or outsource work by employing freelancers instead of keeping workers in full-time positions. Numerous businesses have tapped into the freelance industry seeking technical and professional services in several aspects such as big data applications, statistical analysis, software development, writing, digital marketing, and graphics.

The rising demand for freelance jobs places freelancing as the worker’s solution to the extreme employee turnover caused by the pandemic. The fact that companies still need to operate amidst the global pandemic has created opportunities for freelancers around the world, including those from underdeveloped nations. It has been noticed that companies now prefer to employ freelancers remotely to complete a specific task in other to limit the spread of coronavirus while at the same time ensuring that operations carry on seamlessly within these companies.

The Accelerated Rise in the Demand For Freelancers

From the intuit report 2020, it was revealed that about 40 percent of the total workforce of the U.S are freelancers, tempt workers, and contractors. Upwork reported that 45 percent of hiring managers would seize from hiring full-time workers, while 39 percent forecast the continuous relief of workers from their job places due to the pandemic situation. However, about 73 percent of hiring managers plan to hire freelancers for projects and are considering continuing hiring freelancers for every project.

Why Consider Freelance Jobs?

Working remotely is now the way forward for companies willing to survive this current global challenge and freelancers are currently playing a key role in this. Here are some reasons why freelancing is considered the best option for both companies in terms of hiring and professionals in terms of occupational choice.

Cost Savings: The current situation has affected the income of most companies. They are looking for ways to reduce costs by all means. Hiring remote workers would help them save the cost of office space and also reduce the cost of completing projects. They can find talents willing to complete their jobs at a cheaper rate.

Flexibility: Freelancers can enjoy the privilege of defining their work hours. This gives them more flexibility in their job which gives them more convenience to work remotely at their convenient time, especially talented freelancers.

Increased Productivity: More work is more likely to get done effectively and expeditiously when freelance workers are recruited by companies than when they have employees mostly lounging around in the office till the close of work. Businesses also get the chance to select the best talents to recruit from the freelance community.

Increased Earnings: Online freelancers are exposed to a wider client market than they would be working traditional desk jobs. This gives them a stellar opportunity to increase the income that they earn from providing the services that they do.

Autonomy: Freelancers get to choose the projects they want to work on and the clients they want to work with. They no longer have to go through getting forced into situations such as unpaid overtime, unrewarded efforts, and the like. They say how, when, where, and who with regards to any work that they do.

Job security: Freelancing puts you on your own payroll. You are independent of any formal employment institution, thus you will never have to face getting laid off as a freelancer. No one can fire you when you’re the boss!

Learning opportunity: Every day in freelance and entrepreneurial life brings new challenges, all of which freelancers get to learn from. They get to have more experience as businesspersons, gaining professional confidence and learning how to solve business problems every single day.

Doing what you love: Admittedly, not all successful freelancers or entrepreneurs follow their passions, but most do, and even those who don’t find themselves coming to love what they do.

Growth potential: Most freelancers start small with solo practices, but from little acorns come great oak trees. Many freelancers go on to form their own companies, hire staff, and build a lasting legacy. That is something that could never happen as an employee. Freelancing opens up many more doors to progress than traditional employment.

In-demand Freelancer Skills

Some freelancer skills and roles are in high demand as the global pandemic continues. Below are some job niches that are in high demand:

• Mobile and App Development
• Blockchain
• Cybersecurity
• Web development
• Data science
• Content writing
• Digital marketing
• Graphic design
• Sports data journalism

The spread of COVID-19 diseases has forced the job market to go remotely. Businesses and employees have to adapt to stay out of recession. This has given freelancers a massive leap in their businesses to continue to grow in a much faster way than expected. So the takeaway? Today is the day to start out as a freelancer or entrepreneur and begin to reap all the benefits emanating from the rising demand for freelance jobs.

Start Freelance Jobs by Choosing Sports Data Journalism Job

Are you thinking about becoming a freelancer? If so, DoScouting has vacancies for sports data journalists. The sports data journalists are responsible for covering matches for different sports directly from the venues or TV. The job is fun and rewarding but it also requires speed and accuracy. Currently, we are looking for data journalists in many different countries (USA, UK, Japan, etc.). If you are interested to become a sports data journalist apply here.

Check our YouTube channel to see what current sports data journalists are saying about this job.