Fifty-eight percent of employers expect to double their budgets allotted for online workers this year in comparison to 2012, according to a recent study by Genesis Research Associates and oDesk.com.
The study concludes that this increase will further stimulate the freelance sector, which is doing well and accounts for nearly $250 billion in annual revenues, as reported by FreelancersUnion.org.
"American workers are now finding their greatest career opportunities in online virtual marketplaces, such as oDesk.com," says Matt Keener, author of Executive in Sweatpants: A Handbook for Launching Your Work from Home Career. "A major reason many Americans still struggle to find meaningful work is because they are using tactics from the 1990s and early 2000s. The future for employment is now here, and it's online."
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Employers can find much value by adding part-time and full-time virtual employees, the study finds. In fact, 94 percent of respondents say they plan to use blended teams of online as well as on-premise workers in the next decade. Respondents also say hiring online workers is simpler and less stressful than hiring traditional on-site employees. Specifically, hiring an on-premise is 68 percent more stressful than hiring online workers, and hiring an online worker take a median of 2.8 days as opposed 23.9 days for an on-premise worker, the study reveals.
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