India has the second-largest population of freelance workers in the world. Depending upon which figures to refer to, India is home to between 22 million to 25 million freelancers in almost every profession and vocation. And projections are, this number is expected to grow to about 30 million by the year 2025 or about five years from now.

And there are very strong reasons for this growth too.

Reasons for Growth of Freelancing

You might wonder why the number of freelancers in India is growing. And rightly so. Because traditionally, most educated Indians look for stable jobs that provide a monthly income and other perks as well as opportunities to create a career. 

Therefore, I’ll provide the main points why freelancing is gaining ground rather rapidly in India.

  • Freelancers in India earn a median income of Rs. 2 million and above per year. This works to a whopping Rs. 166,666 on average, per month. And this income is something that most regular jobs won’t fetch you.
  • Flexible working hours are the greatest attraction among freelancers in India. That’s because Indian people have close family and social ties and spend a lot of quality time on these vital elements of life. Working on flexible hours helps them lead a happier family and social life.
  • Commutes in India can be painfully long. For example, an officegoer in Mumbai spends average four hours to commute between home and office, often using crowded and uncomfortable public transport systems. Those who drive or ride a vehicle to work usually face severe traffic snarls. And of course, high gasoline expenses.
  • Large Indian and foreign companies no longer hire people for specific skills. Instead, they outsource these tasks from freelancers on a project basis. This helps companies select from a very vast pool of talent that prevails in India while keeping the payroll shorter and dispensing with the need to invest in renting or buying office spaces.
  • India is the seventh-largest country in the world, in terms of landmass. Therefore, any small or large business faces immense problems when expanding operations to various states and newer territories. Therefore, they enter these markets with the help of local freelancers. This helps the company to gauge the market and adapt products or services depending upon feedback from a freelancer and consumers.

Related Post: Freelancing for Beginners – The Ultimate Guide to Freelancing

What This Means

Given these facts, it’s obvious that freelancing in India is not just here to stay. But it’s indeed going to flourish in every way. Expanding Internet connectivity is also one of the major factors that will lead to a boom in India’s freelancing market.

This brings us to another extremely vital question: What are the top, high demand freelancing skills in 2024 and beyond? What do you require to become a successful freelancer in 2024 and beyond?

Here’re my answers.

Top 3 High Demand Freelance Skills for 2024

I’m providing a curated list of the top 3 high-demand freelancing skills that can help you earn a very lucrative income, either full-time or part-time. 

Digital Marketing (Median Pay: Rs. 1,277/ Hour) 

I rank digital marketing as the topmost freelance skill for the year 2024 and beyond. And there are very strong reasons for my choice. Global research and advisory company, PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates, India will require at least two million digital marketing professionals to drive the country’s eCommerce industry and related sectors, by 2024.

However, estimates from various core sectors of India such as Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), healthcare and hospitality, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), and others combined, there would definitely be a need for at least five million digital marketing professionals by the year 2024.

Digital marketing opens your doors to as many as six different careers. And digital marketing is a collection of various processes. If you complete a digital marketing course from an excellent academy and excel at an internship, it’s possible to earn a lot of money as a freelancer. Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Industries that require an online presence and would look for your services.

Online Tutoring (Median Pay: Rs. 1,750/ Hour) 

Globally, the online tutoring industry will be worth more than US$114 billion by 2024, or about three years from now. Online tutoring basically involves teaching a single student, a group of learners, or even an entire classroom using Internet-based resources such as video conferencing. Online tutoring is generally a mix of live and interactive sessions as well as recorded videos, written content, and audio files.

Unfortunately, not many Indians are aware they can earn millions of Dollars. However, if you know how to teach a subject or some skill that helps people, online tutoring would be one of the top, high-demand freelancing skills for 2024.

You would definitely ask what kind of lessons or subjects do you need to teach online. Actually, there’re no limits. You could become a freelance online tutor for any Primary school subject, English or other languages, math, science, or even complex medical and engineering topics. And if you don’t have these skills, simply use your passion or hobby such as cooking or photography to train people online. You’ll find takers for all kinds of online courses.

Financial Consultant (Median Pay: Rs. 1990/ Hour)

And finally, the best and top, high-demand freelancing skill for 2024 remains Financial Consultancy. Why’s that? Because India has the highest population of millennials in the world, at over 40 percent of the total number of people in this country. And most of them are well qualified or earn a very high income. However, they’re unaware of what to do with the surplus money that remains after meeting expenses. On the other hand, some go on spending binges.

That’s exactly where the freelance skill of a financial consultant comes in handy. Unlike yesteryears where people had to depend upon postal savings schemes and falsely believed that life insurance is an investment, today’s millennials are more aware of investment plans that offer the highest returns. And they are willing to hire freelance financial consultants for guidance.

Freelance financial consultants make money in several ways. Firstly, they charge a fee or retainer for their service. And secondly, they get a commission from banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) for any investment product their clients subscribe to or buy. Thirdly, a lot of financial institutions also offer them a small retainer to promote their investments and savings plans to gain an edge over rivals.

Read more: How to Create a Successful Fiverr Gig in 2023

Final Thoughts: Top 3 High Demand Freelance Skills of 2024

Understandably, these aren’t the only top high demand freelance skills for 2024. However, these three freelance skills can ensure you earn a lot of money, which is the basis of freelancing. As you can see, all these three freelance skills provide flexible working hours and certain skills that would help people. You can try any of these three high-demand skills for 2024 and make a fortune too.

Now It’s Your Turn

Hey, I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post about the top 3 high demand freelance skills of 2024.

Now, share this post with your friends who wanna learn more about freelancing.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. I’m always available to help young hustlers like you.

This is a guest post written by Mitali Roy. Also, this article is edited by Inu Etc.

If you want to submit guest posts to Inuidea, check out the guest post guidelines for Inuidea.