Want to Work from Home? These In-Demand Remote Jobs Pay Big in 2025

Freelancing and remote jobs have seen a boom in recent years, driven by the increasing demand for online work. Many websites, like Fiverr and Upwork, have become hubs for online work, generating millions of dollars yearly for youth across the world. With a large number of experts available on these platforms, clients can conveniently pick and hire someone, ensuring a bright future for the industry. However, newcomers must understand which experts are in higher demand for remote jobs to increase their chances of success in freelancing.

Following the current trends and the potential future of remote jobs, these ten jobs have a bright future in 2025 and beyond:

Software Development	36%	32%	-3.8
Legal	30%	32%	2.1
Information Design & Documentation	31%	30%	-1.5
IT Operations & Helpdesk	34%	30%	-3.8
Mathematics	32%	29%	-2.2
Marketing	25%	25%	-0.2
Accounting	31%	25%	-6
Media & Communications	22%	24%	1.7
Civil Engineering	23%	23%	0.3
Banking & Finance	24%	22%	-2.5

Chief Financial Officer

Chief financial officer looks after all financial matters of an organization, from leading a financial team to planning a fiscal policy. There has been a huge demand for a chief financial officer as a remote job lately with a handsome average salary of $400,000.

Software Architect

The huge impact of software on our lives has also increased the demand for software architects who develop and design technical aspects of software. They can earn around $250,000 on average in salary.

Information Security Analyst

Companies and organizations hire remote information security analysts to oversee their security and block any type of security breach. They run and maintain software that deal with security systems. On average, information security analysts can have a salary around $90,000.

Financial Analyst

Financial analysts are being hired to analyse markets and financial trends to let their clients make better financial decisions for higher profits. Their ability to guide clients in the right direction can enable them to have an average salary of about $80,000.

Data Scientist

Just like financial analysts, data scientists analyse markets and study data related to businesses to predict what would be the financial trajectory of a business and to create models that are adaptable in business. They have an average of $120,000.

Technical Writer

In the writing profession, technical writers are earning the most. They write guides related to the usage of different software and machines which help people in understanding how to use a software and to run a machine. Technical writers are earning around $90,000 in salary.

Digital Marketing Director

The hiring of a digital marketing director to create a digital marketing strategy and establish a brand online is a must for online brands, and that is why online businesses hire the best digital marketing director available to boost their businesses. They have an average salary of $190,000.

Public Relation Manager

A highly paid job and in demand due to the ongoing spread of media, public relation managers are hired by media houses to create a strategy to enhance the public image of the media house. They also interact with the public by analysing their enquiries. Public relation managers could receive $120,000 on average as salary.

Civil Engineer Project Manager

Civil engineers are now being hired remotely to do their job. They lead a team and look after all things, from resources to designs, and their main goal is to make sure that a project is completed without any hurdles. These remote civil engineer project managers have an average salary of $150,000.

Legal Consultant

There has also been a rise in the demand for legal consultants in the remote job market in the past two years. Different organizations hire legal consultants to make sure that they abide by legal regulations. These consultants also oversee all agreements and contracts done by organizations, saving them from risks and frauds.

Read next: Best Freelancing Websites that Can Help You Earn Money

by Ehtasham Ahmad via Digital Information World

LLMs, Including ChatGPT, Employ Manipulative Practices in Web Design, Study Reveals

Computer scientists from University of Glasgow, Technical University of Darmstadt and Humbold University of Berlin found that LLMs can include manipulative design practices if they are asked to build a web page. Many studies have been done on this topic and have found that a lot of human web developers use dark patterns or practices to lure visitors on a web page to do things or to stop them from doing some things.

Large Language Models have become capable of designing web pages but the researchers wanted to know if LLMs also use dark patterns in their designs. 20 participants asked ChatGPT to design a web page for an e-commerce website for the sake of experiment. Each participant offered different suggestions for the web page to ChatGPT and explained what they were looking for in the web page.

The results of the study showed that every web design created by ChatGPT used manipulative design practices. LLMs even generated fake reviews and fake documents which was a concerning thing. The experiment was done on other LLMs too and each result was the same. This suggests that LLMs have learned this skill from humans and now they can be leveraged to manipulate visitors on the site.

Read next: Bluesky Strengthens Impersonation Policies Amid Rapid Growth and Rising User Concerns
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Elon Musk Challenges OpenAI’s Transformation, Claims Misalignment with Nonprofit Mission and Ethics

Elon Musk's legal fight against OpenAI has intensified, expanding into a larger conflict that involves Microsoft and several prominent entities. His lawyers are seeking an injunction to stop OpenAI from becoming a for-profit organization and to put a stop to what they claim is a series of anticompetitive practices carried out by the defendants.

Musk argues that OpenAI, which he co-founded, has lost sight of its original nonprofit mission to democratize AI research. He believes it has moved into a profit-focused direction, aligning itself with large corporations such as Microsoft and allegedly sidelining other competitors from the market.

The allegations are complex but pointed. Musk’s team accuses OpenAI and Microsoft of discouraging investors from backing rivals, including his AI company, xAI. They highlight a reported demand in OpenAI’s funding round that investors avoid financing competitors. This, Musk contends, deprived xAI of potential capital, even as it raised $5 billion in a recent round.

The lawsuit also highlights potential conflicts of interest beyond just funding strategies. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is accused of directing deals towards companies such as Stripe, in which he allegedly holds substantial financial interests. Meanwhile, Microsoft, having invested a staggering $13 billion in OpenAI, is depicted as a puppet master, supplying cloud resources while reaping the rewards of exclusive access to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

The motion also names high-profile individuals like Reid Hoffman and Dee Templeton. Hoffman’s overlapping roles at Microsoft, OpenAI, and investment firm Greylock are cited as examples of undue influence, while Templeton is accused of facilitating agreements that blur ethical and legal boundaries.

• Also read: AI Models Can Use Human-Like Emotions While Communicating to Empathize with Users

Musk’s concerns extend to OpenAI’s governance. He fears that its pivot to a for-profit structure will erase its nonprofit DNA, making it nearly impossible to reverse transactions or restore its original mission. His attorneys argue that without intervention, OpenAI might lack the financial reserves to pay damages if Musk wins the case.

This legal battle goes beyond just financial interests. It’s a struggle for the essence of AI—its purpose, who governs it, and the manner in which its influence is exercised. Musk envisions AI as open source and focused on benefiting everyone, unlike the profit-driven system he criticizes.

The stakes are high, not just for Musk and OpenAI but for an industry grappling with questions of ethics, innovation, and control. Whether the court grants the injunction or not, this case highlights a fundamental tension in technology: the balance between collaboration and competition, ideals and profits, visionaries and gatekeepers.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next:

• Fortune’s 2024 Power List Highlights Tech Giants: Musk, Huang, and Nadella Lead the Way

• TV and Online Sites, Apps Lead Political News Consumption, While Search Engines and Social Media Trail
by Asim BN via Digital Information World

Fortune’s 2024 Power List Highlights Tech Giants: Musk, Huang, and Nadella Lead the Way

Fortune ranked the world’s top 100 most powerful business leaders according to their business size, impact, innovation, business health and trajectory.

Many corporate leaders are having greater influence on the world's economy due to different tech advancements and innovations. A lot of businesses have multi-trillion dollars market value based on their impact on the world.

According to the rankings, Elon Musk is the most influential business leader in the world in 2024. He owns several companies like SpaceX, Tesla and X. He has also become a member of the Department of Government Efficiency in the US.

Followed by Elon is Nvidia’s Jensen Huang whose company is very important in today’s world of AI and technological chips. Microsoft’s Satya Nadella ranks the third most influential business leader in 2024. Tim Cook is the fifth and Mark Zuckerberg is the sixth most influential business leader in 2024.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman comes in eighth position as OpenAI is becoming a bigger company with each passing day. 92% of Fortune 500 companies use products by OpenAI/ChatGPT in their processes which shows the importance this company is bringing in the technological space.

Rank	Name	Associated Companies
1	Elon Musk	Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), xAI
2	Jensen Huang	Nvidia
3	Satya Nadella	Microsoft
4	Warren Buffett	Berkshire Hathaway
5	Jamie Dimon	JPMorgan Chase
6	Tim Cook	Apple
7	Mark Zuckerberg	Meta
8	Sam Altman	OpenAI
9	Mary Barra	GeneralMotors
10	Sundar Pichai	Alphabet (Google)
11	Jeff Bezos	Amazon, Blue Origin
12	Mukesh Ambani	Reliance Industries
13	Brian Moynihan	Bank of America
14	Ren Zhengfei	Huawei
15	Jane Fraser	Citigroup

Read next: Social Media Ads Lure Users into Illegal Money Laundering Activities, Experts Warn
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Apple Leads the Global Smartwatches Shipment in Q3 2024 with Highest Shares

The report for global smartwatch shipment market share by CounterPoint Research is here and it shows a 9% decline year-over-year in Q3 2024. Apple led the smartwatch market with the highest share in Q3 2023. It is followed by Huawei and Samsung. The biggest growth in Q3 2024 was seen among brands like Huawei and Xiaomi as they say fastest YoY growth. On the other hand, Apple saw a 15% YoY decline in Q3 2024. It was mostly because Apple saw less demand for its Watch S10 series after the success of its S9 series.

The country with the most global smartwatch shipments in Q3 2024 was India, with a market share of 25% of total smartwatch shipments. The highest shipment growth was seen in China with 24 YoY, followed by Huawei, Xiaomi and BBK.

With 87% total share, HLOS smartwatches had the highest demand in North America in Q3 2024. It was followed by Samsung, Apple and Garmin. Overall, Apple had the highest global smartwatch shipments with 21% total share in Q3 2024 while 14% share was of Huawei and 11% was of Samsung.

Global Smartwatch Shipments Market Share (Q2 2023 – Q3 2024)
Brands	Apple	Others
Q2 2023	22%	78%
Q3 2023	22%	78%
Q4 2023	31%	69%
Q1 2024	21%	79%
Q2 2024	19%	81%
Q3 2024	21%	79%

Read next: Which Social Network Dominates Digital Ad Spend in 2024?
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Which Social Network Dominates Digital Ad Spend in 2024?

Meta’s Facebook and Instagram are benefiting from their millions of users who spend a lot of daily time on the platforms by exposing them to ads. Meta is also incorporating AI on its platforms to increase the ad targeting. Meta made nearly $75 billion (from Instagram and Facebook) in ad spends in the first half of 2024 just in the United States. This ad spending on Meta platforms is also seen in other countries too.

Based on the data from Sensor Tower, these are the companies with most shares of digital ad spends. Facebook is the top in terms of shares of digital ad spends, making 36.3% share of total ad spend with value of $42.5 billion. Instagram comes second with a value of $32.2 billion and 27.5% share of total ad spend.

Google's YouTube had 15.5% ad share in H1 of 2024, while TikTok had 9.5% share. YouTube is third with a huge margin with the top two and this shows that ad formatting on YouTube is less targeted. With $11.1 billion spent on TikTok, its ad spend has grown 19% annually. Other platforms in the top with the most share of digital ad spend are LinkedIn (4.8%), Snapchat (3.0%), Pinterest (2.7%) and X aka Twitter (0.8%). Digital marketers spent $900 million ad spend on X, which is a 23% decrease from last year.

Platform	Share of Digital Ad Spend H1 2024	Value
Facebook	36.30%	$42.5B
Instagram	27.50%	$32.2B
YouTube	15.50%	$18.1B
TikTok	9.50%	$11.1B
LinkedIn	4.80%	$5.6B
Snapchat	3.00%	$3.5B
Pinterest	2.70%	$3.2B
X (formerly Twitter)	0.80%	$0.9B
Total		$117.00

Read next: Survey Highlights Backup Gaps and Cyber Security Risks Amid Growing Data Reliance
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Survey Highlights Backup Gaps and Cyber Security Risks Amid Growing Data Reliance

A recent data backup survey of 1,000 U.S. nationals conducted by HandyRecoveryAdvisor has revealed alarming gaps in data protection practices and the lack of backups in general as the top data loss reason.

The results of the survey, which launched on the PollFish platform on October 29, 2024, come as global data creation reaches unprecedented levels, with worldwide data consumption expected to hit 149 zettabytes in 2024 and projections showing a surge to 394 zettabytes by 2028.

"The volume of storage devices has surged dramatically. From car video recorders to large data centers, the increase in storage equipment reflects growing data needs," explains Andrey Vasilyev, COO of ACE Data Recovery Service. "As more businesses and individuals generate and store large volumes of data, the likelihood of data loss due to hardware failure, human error, or cyber incidents increases."

Yet, despite users generating and consuming more data than ever before, only 33% regularly backup their digital assets, and 22% don't backup their data at all. The rest create backups just a few times a year (27%), or they do it once in a long time (18%).

Interestingly, Mac users (41%) and iOS users (36%) backup their data on a regular basis slightly more than their Windows (32%) and Android (34%) counterparts. It would be natural to assume that this disparity stems from Apple's Time Machine and iCloud being more user friendly than File History and OneDrive, their counterparts from Microsoft. However, paradoxically, more Mac users report difficulties with the backup process (45%) than Windows users (32%).

In fact, the convenience of personal cloud storage solutions like iCloud, OneDrive, or Dropbox has made them the preferred data storage location for 55% of users. Unfortunately, there's a widespread misconception about cloud storage security: 63% of respondents believe that syncing their data with cloud storage constitutes a complete backup solution.

As a result, half of the users maintain no physical backups of their cloud-stored data—a dangerous practice in an era of increasing cyber threats. For example, there have been many ransomware campaigns targeting cloud storage services recently, including the DoubleDrive attack, which exploits Microsoft OneDrive, and numerous phishing scams targeting iCloud and other cloud storage users.

These and other attacks can lead to permanent data loss when cybercriminals encrypt or delete cloud-stored files, while the absence of physical backups makes it more difficult and sometimes even impossible for users to recover their lost information, which is probably why 68% of those who experienced data loss now regularly backup their files—a hard lesson to learn, indeed.

The remaining 32% who experienced data loss but still don't perform regular backups are playing with fire as data loss can strike at any moment. The survey revealed that accidental deletion and lack of backup were the most common reasons at 34%, followed by device failure and hardware malfunction at 30%. Physical damage accounts for 11% of cases, while power outages during file editing and malware attacks each contribute to about 8% of data loss incidents.

While some forms of data loss, particularly those caused by user error like accidental deletions, can often be recovered using specialized software tools, other types of data loss scenarios present much bigger challenges. Physical damage to storage devices, for instance, frequently requires professional data recovery services that can cost thousands of dollars, with no guarantee of success. Similarly, ransomware attacks or severe hardware failures might render data completely unrecoverable without proper backups.

The most popular backup option for those who regularly protect their data are USB flash drives (33%), followed by traditional spinning hard drives (32%), SD cards (20%), and solid-state drives (15%). Together, these physical storage devices are the go-to backup choice for almost 60% of respondents, while the cloud is the preferred option for just 42%.

The ongoing dominance of physical storage devices as backup locations has a lot to do with the fact that 37% of users prefer to save sensitive information locally instead of uploading it to a remote server, but the fact that many use it as their primary and only storage location certainly also comes into play.

While external physical storage devices are readily available and generally reliable enough for regular backups, they can be easily stolen or lost. When that happens, unencrypted drives become a significant security liability, yet the survey found that 62% of users still choose not to encrypt their external storage devices. It's possible that users are concerned about losing access to their data if encryption passwords are forgotten or keys become corrupted.

The good news is that the growing storage capacities of all physical storage devices allow users to backup everything without being selective, and 48% of respondents take advantage of this by backing up all their data regardless of sensitivity.

When users do prioritize certain data, some interesting prioritization patterns can be observed. Financial records lead the pack with 21% of respondents marking them as their top priority, followed closely by passwords and login credentials at 19%. Legal documents rank third at 18%, while medical records and personal photos garner 17% and 15%, respectively. Surprisingly, work-related documents receive the least attention at just 9%, and 3% of respondents believe none of their data requires special protection.

The findings of this survey should serve as a wake-up call for both individual users and organizations. While modern technology offers many convenient storage solutions, from cloud services to physical devices, the key to effective data protection lies in implementing a comprehensive backup strategy that includes multiple storage methods spread across multiple geographic locations to achieve complete protection against hardware failures, natural disasters, cyber attacks, human error, and other causes of data loss.

Read next: How Do Influencers Decide What’s Credible? The Answers Will Surprise You!
by Irfan Ahmad via Digital Information World