Global Trade Upheaval Is Boon for Job Seekers With Legal Skills

Shelly Hagan, Bloomberg News

Containers and gantry cranes stand at a shipping terminal at night in Yokohama, Japan, on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. Japanese exports fell for an eighth straight month in July, weighed down by shipments of auto parts and semiconductors, as slowing economic growth and trade battles raise fears of a global recession. Photographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The slowdown in global trade is creating job security for at least one set of professionals.

Professionals with expertise in trade law, patents and international accounting standards are among the highest paid skills this year, according to data compiled by Upwork, a website matching freelancers with employers.

“The fluid nature of an evolving international trade system requires global businesses to adapt and make changes quickly,” Upwork Head of Public Policy Michael McGeary said. “As policies evolve, so do companies’ needs, and the best way to meet those needs efficiently is to work with highly-skilled, independent talent building their own businesses with a global client base.”

One respondent in last month’s regional survey from the Federal Reserve, the so-called Beige Book, even “complained about having to hire consultants to change computer systems to track the cost of tariffs.”

In addition to legal and accounting proficiency, tech skills were high on the list including knowledge of Bitcoin, virtual machine and programming language SQR. Independent professionals with the top twenty skills earn between $165 to $255 per hour, according to Upwork.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shelly Hagan in New York at shagan9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alex Tanzi at atanzi@bloomberg.net