App opps on the up!

Facebook, eBay and the Android mobile phone operating system all generated rapidly increasing numbers of work opportunities for freelancers during the third quarter of the year – at the expense of Apple.

New data from Freelancer.co.uk, the jobs portal for freelancers, reveals that while the number of internet-related opportunities continued to grow during the third quarter, some areas of the industry were particularly buoyant.

The number of eBay-related jobs, for example, was up by 41 per cent over the quarter as the online auction site overhauled its social and mobile media offers. Android-related jobs were up by 16 per cent over the quarter, as companies sought to take advantage of the successful launch of the new Samsung Galaxy. Facebook-related job opportunities were up by 11 per cent as the social media giant’s share price finally began to show some stability following its stock market flotation.

By contrast, growth in jobs related to Apple’s operating system was significantly slower, at just 8 per cent. The company has endured a difficult few months, with glitches in its new iOS6 software making headlines around the world.

Other categories of online work for freelancers also showed good growth. The fastest-moving sector of all during the third quarter was copy typing, where job opportunities were up by 145 per cent. Jobs related to Wordpress, user interface, graphic design and logo design were all up by more than 20 per cent.

Matt Barrie, the chief executive of Freelancer.co.uk, said the growth demonstrated the continuing opportunities for freelancers working online. “Through software and the internet we’re experiencing the reimagination of everything”, Mr Barrie said. “Every industry we can think of is turning into a software business, and every job function is increasingly being performed using software tools in the cloud - this online job report tracks the current leaders and laggards of this transformation.”