oDesk Reports 102 Percent Growth in Online Employment; Outlook Impressive for 2011 and Beyond
Demand for Workers Skilled in Social Media and Mobile Drives Online Employment Growth
12/08/10 -- oDesk, the largest and fastest-growing global employment platform, today announced findings from the recent "Online Employment Report: Year in Review and 2011 Predictions." According to the report, online work exploded in 2010, jumping 102 percent over the past year, and is expected to double year-over-year into 2011 and beyond, vastly eclipsing growth in local employment opportunities. The findings also showed a remarkable surge in demand for online workers with expertise in social media and mobile fields, specifically Facebook, Android and iPhone application development.
The rise of social media and the enthusiastic adoption and proliferation of network-connected devices are making their mark in the business world. Not surprisingly, online employment opportunities in these industries rounded out the top five fastest-growing online jobs, according to the latest oDesk report, with Android leading at 680 percent year-over-year growth, Facebook at 343 percent growth, social media at 323 percent growth, Twitter at 193 percent growth and WordPress at 182 percent growth.
Additional key findings from the "Online Employment Report: Year in Review and 2011 Predictions" show:
Employers will have spent more than $115M on online employment in 2010, an amount that is expected to double in 2011.
More than 500,000 employers (25 percent of those in the Fortune 500) will tap cloud-based workforces for the first time in the next year.
The number of people looking to online work as the primary or sole source of their income will double over 2011.
"The past year has seen a dramatic uptick in the number and variety of online job opportunities," said Gary Swart, oDesk CEO. "On-demand workers are fulfilling the needs of businesses looking for flexibility, on-call expertise and access to a wide range of skills. The future opportunities in this demand economy are boundless."
Challenges associated with online employment will be addressed by Swart, along with LiveOps Chairman and CEO Maynard Webb in "Managing Remote Workers: What We Still Need to Get Done," a panel discussion at Thursday's GigaOm Net:Work 2010 conference. For more information or to register for the event, please visit http://events.gigaom.com/network/10/. For more statistics or to browse oDesk's "Online Employment Report: Year in Review and 2011 Predictions," please visit the oDesk oConomy.
About oDesk
With more than 860,000 contractors in more than 150 countries, oDesk (www.oDesk.com) is a global employment platform which enables companies to hire, manage, and pay a flexible, online workforce.
For employers: Guaranteed work -- every hour billed is an hour worked. Screen captures of each contractor's desktop taken at random intervals allow employers to audit the hours and the work completed, so they have confidence every hour billed by a remote team member is an hour worked. This capability also enables the employer to collaborate closely and re-direct the contractor if necessary, much like you do when you manage by walking around your office.
For contractors: Guaranteed payment -- every hour worked is an hour paid, without the hassle of invoicing or slow-paying clients, making oDesk the preferred platform for professional contractors, including software engineers, web developers, graphic designers, writers, researchers, administrators and customer service agents.
Find oDesk on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/oDesk oDesk on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/oDesk
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