For 2011, oDesk predicts:

• Online work will continue to double year-over-year, while local employment will not rebound to pre-recession levels.
• In the next year, more than 500,000 employers will tap cloud-based workforces for the first time, including 25% of the Fortune 500.
• The number of people looking to online work as the primary or sole source of their income will double over 2011.
• Hiring of online workers by non-U.S. companies will explode in 2011. Proportionally, U.S. spending in this area will grow more slowly next year, and will represent 65% of the total spent on online work.

Job categories most in demand by employers:

1. Web programming
2. Web design
3. Blog and article writing
4. Data entry
5. Graphic design
6. SEO
7. Other web development
8. Website content
9. Mobile apps
10. Web research