Shader Smith is part of a growing trend of workers who have gone from regular full-time jobs to contract work—or freelancing. They may not all be happy about it—but at least it's a way to keep working and maintain some income. For some, it also may be the best way to find a permanent job.

At the same time, contract workers are becoming a permanent fixture in the economy that is likely to continue even after the recession is over.

"I think we are seeing a fundamental change," says Tom Mobley, a professor of the Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Ohio. "Companies will staff up at certain levels again, but I think they will use freelancers or consultants on a regular basis going forward."

The recession clearly has prompted the rapid growth of freelancing in a wide variety of professions.

Friday's employment report showed that the number of people forced to work part-time for "economic reasons" rose by 423,000 in March, to 9 million. And a new study by the Human Capital Institute showed that one third of the US workforce is now comprised of non-traditional "contract" workers. The study says the pool of part time workers is growing at more than twice the rate of the regular workforce.

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Cash-strapped American companies are taking advantage of the situation. More than 90 percent of US firms use contract talent, with spending on them doubling in the past six years, to more than $120 billion.

It's a trend that experts in the field say will continue even as the economy recovers.

"It's a paradigm shift," says Dennis Nason, CEO of Nason and Nason, an executive search firm based in Coral Gables, Florida. "Contractors have been used by companies successfully, and it's changed the relationship between worker and management."

According to Elance, an online site that connects businesses with freelance professionals, the skills most required from freelancers are: