Psst.. Be ready, because when iOS-driven ARKit development activity really intensifies in the coming months you’re going to see the skills required to design those experiences really kick into high gear, meanwhile, consider this:

Final Cut, Swift skills are in demand

Upwork, the largest freelancing website in the US, released its Q3 2017 Skills Index today. The latest edition of the quarterly report underscores Apple’s growing impact across numerous industries.

Why?

Not only does the report put augmented reality development skills in seventh place on the list, but it also confirms that skills in Final Cut Pro and Swift are becoming lucrative spaces for skilled freelancers, as both Final Cut Pro (#10) and Swift (#11) ranked in the top 15.

What makes this really interesting is that FCP X was actually the second-fastest growing marketing skill and no other development language ranked above Swift as both experienced more than 200 percent growth YoY.

Wow.

“Final Cut Pro X, a professional video editing app from Apple that recently hit two million users, both saw soaring demand as marketers continued to invest in social media and customer storytelling,” Upwork said.

“In an effort to meet consumer expectations, as well as attract, retain and grow customers, businesses are implementing mobile-first strategies, and mobile programming languages including Swift and Objective-C saw high demand this quarter as a result.”

My take?

Things sure are looking pretty exciting for creative professionals as Apple prepares to ship those tasty iMac Pros and new editions of Final Cut equipped with AR development tools.

It’s almost as if running a company that sits at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts has a future…

Who knew?