Freelancing was already on the rise even before the 2020-21 pandemic in the MENA region, which resulted in the rise of many in-demand freelancing jobs and skill. A few roles, perhaps notably content creator, project manager, and call center agent jobs, were popular enough for a decent number of websites and portals hosting such opportunities to spring up advertising them.
But working from home only really took off during and just after the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, when many people became afraid to mix with colleagues and restrictions in some countries prevented this from happening at all.
About 90% of respondents in a MENA area study of over 4,000 professionals stated they now freelance or want to do so. Freelance talent is in high demand in nations like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain.
With the acknowledgment that freelancers are now so ubiquitous, let’s take a look at 10 of the skills most in demand in today’s freelance marketplace – perhaps you are training for or already possess one of these?
1- Web Design:
An obvious candidate and it remains right at the top of today’s list of the most popular skills for freelancers to have in 2023. Often able to work more creatively and innovatively than agency staff and bringing their clients excellent cost savings while still making a respectable income.
Freelance web designers can sell their services to the rapidly expanding number of local e-commerce ventures, to businesses wanting to sell online for the first time, and to other freelancers wanting to advertise their services online. Here at Worxmart, freelance web designers are always in great demand, especially those with complementary skills such as graphic design.
2- Blogging:
Everyone has a website these days, which means that everyone needs quality content to populate that website with and especially to draw visitors to it. Enter our second in the list for the most in-demand freelancing job – blogging. If you know your subject and can write about it eloquently and well, then no matter what your specialty, there’s a company out there looking for you to create great content for them.
Blogging, v-logging, and photo blogging are all skills in great demand these days. If you keep your own personal blog already and are successful in gaining a large following, then you will become what is known as an ‘influencer’ in your chosen sphere, and companies will pay you well to review related products and services.
3- Copywriting:
We all love a great story, and companies know that a good storyteller backs the most successful and memorable marketing campaigns. It’s easier said than done, however, as you need to be able to easily command your reader’s interest as well as having an excellent command of the language you’re writing in.
This being said, great freelance copywriters can build a story around almost any concept, making even the dullest subject matter interesting for their readers, and the best writers are well paid for their trouble, earning in excess of $30 an hour.
It is an increasingly popular skill, and you will find it easy to register your services on our website here if you’d like to make a foray into the delightful world of creating original content for business.
4- SEO:
This is another technical role in high demand. Google has got to be able to easily find and index the great content that companies are continually publishing on the Internet, and this is most readily achieved by having that content checked by an SEO expert, making this a one of the most in-demand freelancing jobs, as the work, along with creating content, is readily carried out from home.
If you are good at keyword research and understand the principles behind optimizing content for SEO, then you will never be short of freelance employment, as every business, large and small, is keen to invest in these skills.
5- Graphic Design:
Those jobs that companies do not always require to be done every day also readily fall within the domain of the freelance worker. Graphic design, for example, is another freelance role that saunters easily into our top 10. There will always be work for a professional, creative graphic designer, helping companies produce posters, business cards, logos, social media posts, advertisements, and website graphics. Clients often visit the Worxmart portal looking for an able graphic designer. If the role sounds like something that would suit you, you can register with us here.
6- Animation and Video Editing:
Video is a popular and very engaging form of content, and its rapid uptake as a important advertising medium by companies of every size has sparked the need for a creative army of digital creators. Increasing investment by companies is driving the steady increase in requirements for freelancers with these skills. YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels have enjoyed enduring popularity, which is why animation and video editing made the list as one of the most in-demand freelancing jobs and skills in 2023.
7- Professional Accounting:
Accounting and bookkeeping are business staples and freelance accountants are especially popular with small enterprises and sole traders, who haven’t the time to do their own accounts or the money to set up an accounts department. If you like numbers and you are familiar with a popular accounting software package such as Sage, you’re well on your way to your first client – if not, a short course will soon give you the skills you need to become a freelance accountant.
There are also loads of software packages and courses to choose from. As it is clear how professional accounting is crucial to any business, we should note that businesses in general are being created in the MENA region faster than ever, which is why accounting made the list of the top in-demand freelancing jobs.
8- Digital Marketing:
With companies going to the Internet to find new clients, marketing has gone digital too, spread across websites, apps and social media as well as on television and in print. Digital marketing is so much in-demand as a freelancing job that there is now even a digital marketing institute, and you can get a useful qualification in the discipline in as little as 6 weeks.
9- Web App Development:
The 9th on the list for in-demand freelancing jobs and skill is Web App Development. So many people use their mobile phones nowadays to interact with the many companies providing them with day-to-day products and services that web app development has flourished. creating the need for more freelancers with app-building skills.
Some app developers are also website developers, and for many freelance website developers, app development is a convenient add-on, and the requirement for apps to engage with and serve customers is an ever-growing need in 2023.
10- Project Management:
Following the pandemic, many businesses decided to leave part of their operations at least in the hands of people working from home, and project management is another very popular role to put into the hands of a freelance workforce.
One of the reasons that project management is on the list of the top in-demand freelancing jobs is because Project Managers can operate from home with ease.
They can also manage a team using communication applications such as Slack, assigning projects, chasing results, and operating with ease from within the ‘cloud’.
Hiring freelance project managers is a very good way to keep any business agile and adapt to changing needs when the workload increases or decreases.
These are the top in-demand freelancing jobs in 2023. Things are definitely changing in the business world since the pandemic, and one of the biggest changes that we are seeing is the way people choose to work.
If you haven’t already done so, consider registering with Worxmart, and give your freelance career a boost as you look forward, like many others, to building your business post-pandemic.
