Upwork: Seniority Level of Freelancers
Draft
Return to: Upwork
In order to access the impact of AI on IT related jobs, we decided to find the number of senior IT related freelancers operating in Upwork. We concluded that;
- There are few senior IT related freelancers operating in Upwork.
- Employers doesn't seem bothered by a freelancer's seniority as there are freelancers who have done less than 5 jobs but have earned more than 10k in the platform.
- The total number of the most senior IT related freelancers is only 319.
- As such, IT related freelancers are on high demand; hence they stand a higher chance of being immune to AI.
| Job Tybe | Earned amount | Hours billed | Total jobs | Job success | Number of freelancers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Web, Mobile and Software Development[1] | $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 10+ jobs | 90%+ job success score | 147 |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 5+ jobs | 90%+ job success score | 1,701 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | Any | 90%+ job success score | 5,000 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 10+ jobs | 80%+ job success score | 159 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 5+ jobs | 80%+ job success score | 1,802 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | Any | 80%+ job success score | 5,000+ | |
| IT and Networking[1] | $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 10+ jobs | 90%+ job success score | 30 |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 5+ jobs | 90%+ job success score | 112 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | Any | 90%+ job success score | 1,078 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 10+ jobs | 80%+ job success score | 32 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 5+ jobs | 80%+ job success score | 148 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | Any | 80%+ job success score | 1,078+ | |
| Data Science and Analytics[1] | $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 10+ jobs | 90%+ job success score | 36 |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 5+ jobs | 90%+ job success score | 191 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | Any | 90%+ job success score | 1,583 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 10+ jobs | 80%+ job success score | 36 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 5+ jobs | 80%+ job success score | 209 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | Any | 80%+ job success score | 1,583+ | |
| Design and Creative[1] | $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 10+ jobs | 90%+ job success score | 106 |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 5+ jobs | 90%+ job success score | 909 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | Any | 90%+ job success score | 5,000 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 10+ jobs | 80%+ job success score | 116 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | 5+ jobs | 80%+ job success score | 961 | |
| $10k+ earned | 1,000+ hours billed | Any | 80%+ job success score | 5,000+ |
Seniority is mostly likely to be below average
Basing on Upwork's Freelance Forward 2022 report, majority of Upwork freelancers are young. The report indicates that in 2022, "43% of all Gen-Z and 46% of Millennial professionals freelanced."[2] A 2020 survey report by Payoneer found that 70% of freelancers are under the age of 35 years[3].
Education Levels of Upwork Freelancers
Majority of Upwork freelancers have college degrees. According to Upwork 2021 presentation, 73% of Upwork freelancers had college degrees while 21% had post-graduate degrees[4].
Upwork badges
There are over 12 million registered freelancers in Upwork[5]. (Source is not working) These freelancers are broken down into top rated plus freelancers, top rated freelancers, expert-vetted freelancers, rising talent and others. Below is an estimate of the number of freelancers in each category[6].
- Top rated plus freelancers represent the top 3% of performers on Upwork(360,000 freelancers)
- Expert-vetted freelancers represent top 1% of talent on Upwork(120,000)
- Top rated freelancers represent top 10% of talent on Upwork(1.2 million)
- Upwork does not give the number of rising talent but we expect it to be large.
As it can be seen, the top rated freelancers exceeds the number of active clients plus enterprise clients(800k)[7], implying that the platform has sufficient quality freelancers.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://www.upwork.com/ab/profiles/search/?category_uid=531770282580668418&hrs=1000&nss=80&page=181&pt=independent&revenue=10000&total_completed_jobs=5
- ↑ https://www.upwork.com/research/freelance-forward-2022
- ↑ https://pubs.payoneer.com/images/2020-Freelancer-Income-Report.pdf
- ↑ https://investors.upwork.com/static-files/d4ef2d59-4aaa-45f9-909e-8638164f88da (page 8)
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upwork#cite_note-:2-4
- ↑ https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360049702614-Upwork-s-Talent-Badges
- ↑ https://www.investmentwiki.org/wiki/Upwork#:~:text=At%20the%20end%20of%20Q3%202022%2C%20Upwork%20had%20818%2C000%20active%20clients%20and%20over%20300%20enterprise%20clients%5B9%5D.%20Some%20of%20its%20clients%20include%20Microsoft%2C%20Genesys%2C%20Godaddy%2C%20Corel%2C%20Coty%2C%20etc%5B10%5D.