Top 30 companies hiring freelancers: Work while travelling the world (websites included)

Tovah Burstein and her husband had been living and working in Chicago, but they were tired of being tied down by the 9-5 and wanted to travel. So they took a chance, moved into a trailer home and began exploring the country. "He's a nurse, so we decided to try travel nursing," says Burstein, 32. "I left my great job and started looking for remote work."

Burstein turned to the company FlexJobs, which offers a database of companies offering flexible opportunities in over 50 career categories. She found a position freelancing for a rare disease foundation, which allowed her to work while moving from one state to another and visiting lots of national parks.

She soon got her dream job: She was hired as the foundation's full-time (but remote!) program manager. "I answer patient emails, manage their patient registry and create most of their communications," says Burstein. "This is year two for us. Digital work has allowed us to see the bottom of the Grand Canyon, the Channel Islands, the Tetons and the Oregon coast."

Burstein is not alone. According to a recent survey by FlexJobs, a fifth of freelancers are digital nomads. And the survey results show that freelancers are more likely to report enjoying work than non-freelancers. "Freelance work can be empowering and provide more work flexibility — and better work-life balance — than many traditional arrangements," says Sara Sutton Fell, founder and CEO of FlexJobs.

According to FlexJobs, the freelance economy has grown to represent 35% of the total U.S. workforce or 55 million Americans, and the range of opportunities has grown in the past 10 years, too.

The site recently compiled a list of the top 30 companies hiring freelancers, which was based on an analysis of over 40,000 companies and looked specifically at their freelance job posting history in FlexJobs’ database between the end of April and end of July 2017.

According to the database, the most common categories for freelance jobs include computer, IT, project management, accounting, finance and administrative. But there are opportunities in other industries, and some of the more surprising freelance job listings include pharmacist, veterinarian and (get this) weather anchor. Whatever career you choose, freelancing can be a great way to see the world.

Below are the top 30 companies with the most freelance job postings.

1. Kelly Services
2. Real Staffing
3. netPolarity
4. Creative Group
5. Kforce
6. Ajilon
7. ManpowerGroup
8. Day & Zimmerman
9. TEKsystems
10. Eagle
11. BBC Worldwide
12. Paladin
13. IFG - International Financial Group
14. Accenture
15. CyraCom
16. Modis
17. VocoVision
18. Dahl Consulting
19. Computer Futures
20. Hired by Matrix
21. Lannick Group
22. Accounting Principals
23. Vaco
24. Horizontal Integration
25. Clarity Consultants
26. AFIRM
27. Georgia Military College - GMC
28. On-Board Companies
29. Sunbelt Staffing
30. CBC Radio-Canada

(note) Flexjob provides review of the company and some information about them, you can find webpages of jobs at right side of post in flexjob screen.