It is a well known fact that women’s employment rates increased sharply during World War I (1914-18), from about 23 percent of the working age population in 1914 to approximately 40 percent in 1918. This trend was particularly noticeable in Europe, where the majority of able-bodied men were drafted into armies and sent to battlefields far away from home.
As a result, alongside managing the home, women began taking up tasks that had traditionally been performed by men, including physically demanding work such as jobs in arms and munitions factories, aircraft factories, and even window cleaning in highrises!
With the rapid and worldwide growth of remote work and artificial intelligence (AI) driven jobs in the last few years, women in the 21st century may be poised for their very own WWI moment.
And the best part is, you don’t have to be a software engineer, data scientist, or lawyer to benefit from international remote work. The stage is huge, you just need to play your part.
First, the remote work revolution
Before I go any further, take a look at these profiles of women professionals from the online job platform Upwork.
Our learner Trisha Biswas, a 2020 grad began working as a remote freelancer for a fee of USD 10 per hour, which later became a remote job with a European startup called WACEO, where she worked 40 hours a week.
She has since worked with clients from all over the world, including the EU, UK, US, Canada, and UAE, on various assignments ranging from contract drafting to IP licensing to legal writing.
She secured her first opportunity within 15 days of her mentoring session with us, and her total earnings from Upwork now stand at over USD 20,000 (INR 16.40 lakh), from just 1,022 hours of work. As you can see, she now charges USD 50 per hour for her services. Not bad for someone who began her freelance journey in 2021!
Ayushi Bhojwani, a 2021 grad created her Upwork profile with help from our freelance team, and began working for clients from different nations, but mostly from the US. She currently stands as a top-rated freelancer on Upwork with 62 total jobs and over USD 10,000 (INR 8.20 lakh) in earnings.
These are just two examples from among thousands of learners from diverse backgrounds who have secured remote freelance opportunities with clients across the world, and are building amazing careers by upskilling with us.
For example, check out this post on our LinkedIn page about our learner Muskaan Khandelwal, who has recently embarked on her content writing journey.
Muskaan was a regular graduate preparing for competitive exams when Covid arrived, and her exam preparations were severely affected. As she tells you herself in one of her posts, faced with repeated failure to clear the exams, she decided to build a career as a freelancer.
Or our learner Sreenidhi Veluswamy, who provides services like tutoring, Canva designing, content creation, and proofreading, and who we persuaded to join LinkedIn for better networking and work opportunities! Happily, she has also joined us as a Performance Coach.
The point is, all these women are now part of the remote work revolution that has been sweeping across the world post-pandemic. A simple Google search for ‘remote work statistics 2023’ produced this top result:
Remote work is here to stay, and the sooner you get onto the bandwagon, the better.
AI and its impact
In our experience, among the most lucrative and productive areas where remote freelancers can find opportunities are:
- Content, design & social media
- Finance
- Online marketing
- Administrative jobs
- HR & recruitment
- Virtual assistant
- Startup generalist
It is no coincidence that these are among the areas in which we are also witnessing a rapid growth of AI-driven functions.
The common perception is that AI will take jobs away instead of creating them. Like many common perceptions, that is actually inaccurate.
As this report in the Guardian states, “Like many revolutionary technologies before it, AI is likely to eliminate jobs. But, as has been the case in the past, experts argue, AI will likely offset much of that by spurring the creation of new jobs in addition to enhancing many existing jobs.”
In other words, you have to learn to live and work with AI, and upskill yourself accordingly. Which is where we come in.
How will you acquire the skills and knowledge needed to build a successful career in an AI-driven environment?
The AI boom is soon going to result in a huge explosion of demand for professionals who can work with AI. This is the perfect time to upskill and become market and job ready for the world.
As remote work and freelancing become the norm, more and more employers in the world’s developed economies are realising the benefits of outsourcing work to professionals who can work from home, often in another country.
The benefit for employers is that these remote workers cost far less than workers from their own countries, and yet deliver the same, or better, quality of work.
This new normal has encouraged international startups, firms, SMEs, and individual employers to embrace the virtual world, and extend the job market not only beyond your city, but your country.
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