Creative writing jobs soar by 58% despite automation concerns
CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES — Creative writing takes the lead as the fastest-growing job, with a remarkable 58% surge in postings between April and June 2023 amid concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) automating jobs.
Freelancer.com’s Fast 50 Q2 2023 report shows that interest in freelance writing jobs has increased on the platform over the last quarter. Other writing-related skills also grew across the quarter, including Copy Typing (up 31.2%, 4,867 to 6,389 jobs) and Ghostwriting (up 22.8%, 5,212 to 6,404 jobs).
Jobs that were also deemed as ‘at risk’ of being automated by AI, such as data entry, have also increased over the quarter. Projects for Data Processing were up 21% (from 9,076 to 11,024 jobs), and projects requiring Excel as a skill also saw a 15% increase (from 13,246 to 15,301 total job postings).
“AI can’t replace creativity yet. While workers and businesses are benefiting from productivity gains offered by generative AI, the data suggests that the technology in its current form isn’t able to replace creative work,” said Matt Barrie, Chief Executive at Freelancer.com.
“We saw a similar trend occur in the first quarter of the year, as creative design jobs were flourishing despite interest for generative AI tripling,” Barrie added.
Businesses also heavily invest in freelance marketing support, with significant growth in Twitter Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Sales, and Social Media Marketing. This move focuses on growth and strategy linked to the surge in freelance jobs tied to new ventures.
On the other hand, interest in niche tech skills is beginning to slow down, with software development (down 28%), API (down 26%), iOS Development (down 26%), and Microsoft SQL Server (down 25%) all decreasing over the last quarter.
Freelancer.com said that the easing of these skills also aligns with Layoff.fyi’s tech layoff tracker that shows a reduction in the number of layoffs occurring globally.
