Online technology services marketplace OnForce has experienced a surge in applicants looking to become service professionals with OnForce in Q1 of this year.

OnForce’s online technology marketplace matches up businesses and individuals looking to fill mostly short-term technology contract jobs with individuals who can fulfill those jobs.  Currently, OnForce has a database of more than 13,000 registered and certified service professionals who can bid on these jobs.

In Q1 of this year, the number of service professionals who have applied to become part of the online marketplace surged significantly, says CEO Peter Cannone.

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“We saw a 30 percent increase in service professionals applying in Q1 versus last year,” Cannone tells Channel Insider. “It’s a sign of the economy that more people are looking for this work.”

Thankfully, OnForce has also seen a 30 percent increase in demand for the work in Q1, according to Cannone.

OnForce identified several other trends in Q1, based on data from its OnForce services marketplace.  For example, desktop computer jobs ranked the highest for on-site service jobs in Q1, followed by TV/Video.

OnForce also noted that average work order rates for point-of-sale service dropped for the first time in a year to $138.84 per hour.

But total average work order rates for projector on-site service, at $327.84 in Q1, were more expensive than any other consumer electronics category.  VOIP and telephony garnered an even higher rate at $356.70 per total average work order, but that category experienced a 25 percent drop in total average work order from Q4.

However, most service categories saw an erosion of average total work order value, with the exception of peripherals and software.

OnForce also notes that Network IT remained the least expensive on-site service category for the fourth straight quarter in terms of work order value, coming in at $114 on average.

And if you are looking for the categories that are still garnering the highest-paid work, rates for home theater grew significantly, according to OnForce.