Contents
Freelance writing is shrinking fast. On Freelancer.com, one of the largest freelance marketplaces, writing jobs' share of projects has halved since ChatGPT launched in November 2022, after four steady years. Translation and voice-over have lost share too, while video editing, sales and projects mentioning AI have gained it.
Novoresume drew a random sample of more than 55,000 projects posted on Freelancer.com from January 2019 to September 2026 and sorted them into 47 types of work by the words in each project's title. For each type, we compared its share of all projects before ChatGPT (January 2019 to November 2022) with its share since (January 2023 to September 2026).
Key Findings
Writing jobs' share of projects halved: down 50%. Projects whose titles mention a writer, writing, copywriting or ghostwriting fell from 3.60% of all projects before ChatGPT to 1.80% since. Before ChatGPT, their share held between 3.48% and 3.79% every year.
Article and blog writing's share: down 55%. The steepest fall of any type we rank, from 1.96% of projects to 0.89%.
Translation's share: down 49%. From 1.60% of projects to 0.81%.
Voice-over's share: down 37%. From 0.40% of projects to 0.25%.
Projects mentioning AI: share up 488%, almost sixfold. From 0.49% of all projects to 2.89%.
Video editing's share: up 150%. Sales and lead generation's share: up 131%. Video editing, from 2.69% of projects to 6.72%, has the biggest share of any type we rank. Sales went from 0.83% to 1.92%.
Design work's overall share: up 26%. Design work went from 9.9% of projects to 12.5%. Graphic design, logo design and web design showed no significant change.
Freelance Jobs Ranked by Change Since ChatGPT
| Rank | Type of work | Share of projects, Jan 2019 to Nov 2022 | Share of projects, Jan 2023 to Sep 2026 | Change in share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Article and blog writing | 1.96% | 0.89% | |
| 2 | Translation | 1.60% | 0.81% | |
| 3 | Voice-over | 0.40% | 0.25% |
Source: Novoresume analysis of a random sample of open projects posted on Freelancer.com, January 2019 to September 2026 (December 2022 left out).
| Rank | Type of work | Share of projects, Jan 2019 to Nov 2022 | Share of projects, Jan 2023 to Sep 2026 | Change in share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Video editing and production | 2.69% | 6.72% | |
| 2 | Sales and lead generation | 0.83% | 1.92% | |
| 3 | Architecture, CAD and interior design | 1.21% | 2.25% | |
| 4 | Animation | 1.12% | 1.69% | |
| 5 | 3D modeling and rendering | 1.60% | 2.42% |
Source: Novoresume analysis of a random sample of open projects posted on Freelancer.com, January 2019 to September 2026 (December 2022 left out).
Projects mentioning AI can belong to any of these types. Their share rose 488%, more than any type in Table 2.
Freelance Work by Year, 2019 to 2026
| Type of work | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 (Jan to Nov) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (Jan to Sep) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writing jobs overall | 3.48% | 3.60% | 3.58% | 3.79% | 2.12% | 1.80% | 1.66% | 1.71% |
| Article and blog writing | 2.37% | 2.00% | 1.76% | 1.69% | 1.12% | 0.93% | 0.78% | 0.80% |
| Translation | 2.10% | 1.80% | 1.17% | 1.35% | 0.93% | 0.86% | 0.69% | 0.82% |
| Voice-over | 0.42% | 0.27% | 0.43% | 0.50% | 0.24% | 0.27% | 0.29% | 0.20% |
| Design work overall | 10.6% | 9.6% | 9.3% | 10.4% | 12.2% | 13.6% | 12.8% | 11.3% |
| Video editing and production | 2.60% | 2.91% | 2.51% | 2.80% | 4.78% | 5.93% | 7.01% | 8.87% |
| Sales and lead generation | 0.80% | 1.01% | 0.89% | 0.59% | 1.20% | 1.68% | 2.07% | 2.59% |
| Projects mentioning AI | 0.40% | 0.50% | 0.46% | 0.63% | 1.48% | 2.01% | 3.57% | 4.22% |
Source: Novoresume analysis of a random sample of open projects posted on Freelancer.com, January 2019 to September 2026 (December 2022 left out).
Writing Work on Other Freelance Platforms
Other freelance marketplaces report the same fall in writing work.
| Platform | Source | Measure | Period | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upwork | UpHunt, 3.25 million public job posts | Content writing posts | Jan 2025 to Jun 2026 | -63% |
| Upwork | UpHunt, 3.25 million public job posts | All job posts | Jan 2025 to Jun 2026 | -34.5% |
| CrowdWorks (Japan) | CrowdWorks | Writing job listings | Q4 2021 to Q4 2025 | -46% |
| Upwork | Bloomberry | Writing jobs | Nov 2022 to Feb 2024 | -33% |
| Upwork | Bloomberry | Translation jobs | Nov 2022 to Feb 2024 | -19% |
Fiverr's annual report for 2025, filed in March 2026, says AI has reduced demand for simple and low-skilled services on its marketplace.
Methodology
- Source
- Freelancer.com's public projects API, October 2026. We drew 2,000 random project IDs a month from December 2018 to September 2026 and kept 55,496 open public projects: 20,131 before ChatGPT (Jan 2019 to Nov 2022) and 35,365 after (Jan 2023 to Sep 2026). December 2022 is excluded.
- Types of work
- Each project is sorted into one or more of 47 types by the words in its title. "Projects mentioning AI" covers titles naming AI, ChatGPT, GPT, LLMs or machine learning.
- Calculation
- Each type's share of all projects in each period, and the change in that share.
- Ranking
- A type is ranked if it had 50+ projects before ChatGPT and its change is statistically significant at 95%, also holds against the 12 months before launch, and is not explained by Freelancer.com's 2024 title-format change. 9 of 47 types are ranked.
- Other platforms
- UpHunt (2026) and Bloomberry (2024) for Upwork, CrowdWorks' CW AI Letter (June 2026), Fiverr's 2025 Form 20-F.
