Elance Index Ranks Job Posts

Elance is an online marketplace that connects businesses looking to get work done with freelancers and independent service providers.

The just released the Elance Online Work Index, a composite index that ranks job postings by popularity. The index offers a snap shot of jobs currently in high demand and trend information on how job demand is shifting.

The index includes a wide range of jobs across information technology, marketing, administration and other job areas. 

Elance provided us the opportunity to dig through the raw data behind the index, including historical data that pre-dates the creation of the index. 

One of the interesting trends we noticed is the growth of marketing jobs posted on Elance. 

10 of the top 20 jobs are in marketing and all but one has moved higher on the index since last year.  

Content creation job postings have also increased. A subset of marketing jobs, these include article writing (5), web content (7), blogs (17) and online writing (21). This group has collectively moved up the index since last year.

Given the economic downturn it is not surprising to see growth in the number of marketing and online content creation job postings. Revenue growth is top of mind for most businesses and there is a growing recognition of the importance of online content for SEO and lead generation. 

With most companies focused on cost containment, we expect to see continued growth in the use of independent and freelance workers.