The freelance marketplace Malt has just published a study entitled 'Freelance talent: the secret of AI innovation', which analyzes the growth of supply and demand for freelance talent specializing in IT in Europe.
According to the study, the demand for freelancers specializing in GenAI (AI engineering specialization) in Europe would increase by up to 300% between 2023 and 2024, while at the same time the supply of freelance talent specializing in this technology would increase by up to 200%.
On the other hand, the demand for profiles specializing in the cloud, related solutions and multi-cloud platforms increased by up to 128% over the same period. This increase in demand meant a 42 increase in supply.
Malt notes that profiles focusing on the application of AI were not the only ones to gain prominence last year. Those focused on training, assessment, selection and the use of AI models, i.e. those focused on AI science, have experienced growth in both supply and demand.
Companies are placing up to 75 more emphasis on profiles with skills in Transformers and GPT than in the previous year, resulting in a 1200 increase in the community of these profiles. Similarly, demand for profiles in neurolinguistic programming has increased by up to 66% and, albeit to a lesser extent, this is also true for profiles with skills in computer vision.
The Freelancer Marketplace shows that this interest from companies has also had a direct impact on the increase in freelancers specializing in the field of NLP, with growth of 90% and 37% respectively.
Finally, other AI profiles focusing on governance, security and ethics were also in high demand with a +366% increase - representing a high supply of up to 100% - and those with skills in consulting and training were in demand by up to 88%, representing a 32 increase in supply.
"Freelance talent can play a crucial role for organizations, from advising at a strategic level to bringing critical skills to AI projects and sharing their expertise with internal teams," said Claire Lebarz, director of data and AI at Malt, in a press release, encouraging professionals to upskill in these areas.
"The explosion of AI represents an unprecedented opportunity for freelancers and businesses alike. For freelancers, it is the ideal time to upskill and acquire skills that are in high demand. For companies, it is an opportunity to leverage the expertise of qualified freelancers to accelerate their digital transformation and remain competitive in a constantly evolving market," adds Jacobo Bermúdez de Castro, Managing Director of Malt in Spain.
Other results
According to the report, companies demand a high level of expertise from their talent. Thirty-one percent of technical projects, 29% of scientific projects and 26% of technology and data projects require this.
On the other hand, companies argue that freelancers should be involved in the project on a full-time basis. Eighty percent of technical projects and 67% of scientific or technology and data projects follow this model.
As far as the average daily rate of freelancers is concerned, freelancers with technical knowledge would charge an average of 510 euros, freelancers with scientific knowledge 505 euros and freelancers with knowledge of technology and data 403 euros.
