10 highest-paying fields — with lots of growth — for gig workers
This is one hell of a gig.
Millions of workers now participate in the gig economy — loosely defined as the workers who work a series of freelance or temporary jobs rather than one full-time job. Indeed, about one in four Americans now participates in the digital gig economy, using apps or websites like Airbnb or Uber to earn some extra cash.
Most of them don’t make much. A analysis by personal finance site Earnest found that 85% of side-gig workers made less than $500 a month. Airbnb hosts tended to earn the most (a median of $440 a month), while Etsy giggers earned the least at at median of $40 a month.
But some workers in the gig economy make bank — and likely have little trouble getting work, according to new data from business site FitSmallBusiness.com. The site analyzed data from leading sources of gig work — including Upwork, Freelancer, Hubstaff and the Freelancer’s Union — to look at fields that paid well and where clients were booking an increasing number of freelancers.
Here are the 10 best fields for gig workers based on pay and job availability.
- Artificial Intelligence – Deep Learning: $115 per hour
- Blockchain Architecture: $87 per hour
- Robotics: $77 per hour
- Ethical hacking: $66 per hour
- Cryptocurrency: $65 per hour
- Amazon Web Services Lamda Coding: $51 per
- Virtual Reality: $50 per hour
- React.JS Developers: $41 per hour
- Final Cut Pro Editors: $37 per hour
- Instagram Marketing: $31 per hour
The first trend you might notice is that this list is dominated by tech jobs. Gavin Graham, the special projects editor for FitSmallBusiness.com says this is because these types of jobs lend themselves well to the gig economy and are growing fields that pay well.
So what exactly do people in the no. 1-rated artificial intelligence-deep learning field do? “They help develop “the technology that drives the ability of artificial intelligence to ‘learn’ and adapt,” says Graham. “Jobs in this field include developers who code the underlying algorithms using tools and programming languages, such as MATLAB, Python, Java, C++, Tensorflow, etc..,” he adds.
One possible surprise on the list: Instagram marketing. It lands on the list because job growth has been very rapid, he explains. While many companies have worked on Facebook and Twitter marketing, their Instagram platforms are less developed — and in need of help.
Don’t have any high-tech skills but still want to work from home? These are the 5 hottest work-from-home jobs that don’t require previous experience, and these are 5 work-from-home jobs that easily pay $100,000.
