ICT freelancers in highest demand in 2018

The ICT sector was the most in-demand industry vertical in Australia for freelance talent in 2018, according to the latest data from freelance marketplace Expert360.

The Australia-based freelance management platform and marketplace also revealed that its platform’s highest-performing individual freelancer earned $330,000 during the year.

Within the IT and telecommunications vertical, the review also identified a significant increase in demand in the technology strategy, IT project and program management and technical business analysis categories compared to last year.

During 2018, the most in-demand freelance skill at the junior and mid level was project and program management, followed by change management, business strategy and transformation, business/data analytics, and data science/big data.

At the mid to senior level, the most in-demand skills were program management, IT project management, business strategy and transformation, procurement and category management, customer strategy, and marketing strategy.

Technology strategists were earning an average of $2200 per day on the platform, with business strategists earning $1400, project and program managers $900 per day, data and business analysts $800 per day and marketing specialists $850 per day.

“It’s not surprising that technology specialists were the most in-demand in 2018,” Expert360 CEO Bridget Loudon said.

“An exponential number of businesses are going through large-scale digital transformation programs and are reliant on top contingent talent to drive this process.”

In the year ahead, Expert360 is predicting that the most in-demand freelance skills will include strategy consultants, agile coaches, project and program managers, and business analysts.

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