AI and Upwork: Surprising Winners and Losers Revealed
Yesterday, we talked about the influence of AI on white-collar jobs, but what about freelancers? Upwork will give us a clue since AI’s footprint is becoming impossible to ignore. Henley Wing took a deep dive into the data of 5M freelancing jobs on Upwork, from the dawn of the ChatGPT era in November 2022 to mid-February of 2024, to bring some light to the speculations swirling around AI and job displacement.
Why pick freelancing data, you ask? Because the freelance market feels the ripples before the big corporate ships even notice the wave. Plus, Upwork’s not crying over tech layoffs—its revenue bloomed by 14% year over year in its latest quarter. So, what’s really happening?
The Ups and Downs of Freelance Jobs in the AI Era According to Upwork
While everyone’s been busy prophesying the end of work as we know it, the data tells a different story. Most job categories on Upwork actually saw an increase in postings, except for three: writing, translation, and customer service. Writing gigs took the hardest hit, plummeting by 33%, with translation and customer service jobs not far behind.
But it’s not all doom and gloom! Jobs in video editing/production, graphic design, and web design saw increases, with software development jobs also on the rise (at least, for now).
Why Some Jobs Flourish While Others Are Dust
The drop in writing and customer service jobs might not be shocking—after all, ChatGPT can churn out an article or manage basic customer inquiries. However, the growth in fields like video production and software development on Upwork is a head-scratcher, given the AI-generated code and videos. Let’s see what will happen from now on with OpenAI’s Sora.
Hourly Rates
When diving into the dollar signs, translation jobs felt the sting with over a 20% drop in hourly rates. Meanwhile, graphic and web design stayed strong, even seeing a slight uptick in pay. It seems that despite AI’s march forward, creativity and design remain human dominions—at least for now.
Rising Stars: AI Skills in Demand
The freelance market is hungry for talent in AI content generation, chatbot development, and integrating AI APIs. Chatbots, in particular, have exploded in popularity, becoming the darling of the AI job market with a staggering 2000% increase in job postings! So, it might be time to start diving seriously into learning more about AI!
So, What’s the Big Picture?
Henley Wing’s analysis offers a fascinating glimpse into how AI is reshaping the freelance marketplace. While some areas feel the squeeze, others are thriving or even growing. It’s a world of contrast where AI’s impact is both profound and uneven. Find the full study here.
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