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Internet marketing, structural engineering, Swift, and mobile app development are also among the top five highest-paying skills in freelance projects

People with SEO search engine optimisation skills earn the highest in freelance projects with an average of $2,463 a project in India, according to data by Freelancer.com, shared exclusively with Moneycontrol.

The SEO skill category is broad and can encompass a variety of different projects, from hiring freelancers to write SEO-friendly content to more technical practices such as website audits and optimisation.

Other than SEO, internet marketing, structural engineering, Swift, and mobile app development are among the top five highest-paying skills in freelance projects.

Further, the five most popular jobs for Indian freelancers are graphic design, PHP, HTML, website design and photoshop.

Across the world, design jobs such as UX Design, Photoshop and Illustrator were the highest-paying freelance category at the high-end, with freelancers being able to earn up to $263,571 in one year. This was followed by Game Development (up to $258,501), Coding (up to $219,108), Mobile App Development (up to $145,200) and Website Development (up to $141,923).

Not cafes, freelancers chose WFH

Freelancer.com added that over 12.29 lakh new users were from India, where students made up the largest percentage 30.5 percent. Full-time employees and part-time employees constituted 10.9 percent and 12 percent of new users in 2022.

Though we don't have data to compare, what we can see happening, anecdotally, is that layoffs are driving more people to explore freelancing as a way to earn an income. People are also more willing to be their own boss or start a business, Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer.com, told Moneycontrol.

When surveying more than 94,028 users on the platform, it was found that a majority of users hold a bachelors degree or higher (63.5 percent).

An overwhelming majority of freelancers continue to work from home (75.3 percent). While there is a common misconception, cafes (0.5 percent) and outdoors (1.3 percent) only make up a very small percentage of where freelancers work from.

In addition to saving money, there are several advantages to working from home, such as flexibility, time-saving and lower costs. Barrie expects to see the percentage of freelancing from the office go up as a result of workplaces making a return to the office mandatory.

Sticking to a long-term business plan remains a challenge

One in three entrepreneurs isnt starting a business because theyre either too comfortable or dont have enough money. These are the two main reasons revealed in the survey of more than 16,000 Indian entrepreneurs on Freelancer.com.

One in 10 needs more motivation to start, while others dont have a clear idea about what theyre doing, dont have enough time, or already have their own business.

Further, almost one in three Indian business owners struggle to create and stick to a long-term business plan. Hiring the right talent is the second biggest challenge business owners struggle with, followed by attracting/acquiring more customers.

2023 predictions

In 2022, the Freelancer.com platform observed a ripple effect caused by mass tech layoffs globally. As layoffs were announced, it would only take a matter of weeks for highly skilled freelancers to join the platform.

After a few months, employers would then join the platform to hire for highly specialised, niche tech jobs. In turn, this grew the number of tech and IT jobs on the platform, with some growing as much as 60 and 80 percent, quarter-on-quarter.

The first wave of the trend began in Q2 2022, when the initial mass layoffs were announced, and continued through the year. This trend is expected to continue as more tech companies look to reduce headcounts and lay off employees in 2023.

Abhishek Sahu covers HR and Careers at Moneycontrol.

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SEO skills earn the most in freelance projects: Report - Moneycontrol