Philippines is world’s 6th fastest growing market for freelancers: Report
As per Payoneer’s Global Gig-Economy Index, the US topped the world in the growth of freelance earnings in the second quarter, with that figure rising 78% since the same quarter in 2018. However Asian gig workers are also quickly catching up, with Pakistan at the 4rth position, the Philippines at the 6th position, India at the 7th and Bangladesh at the 8th position.
The report draws on data from more than 300,000 freelance workers within the digital payments platform Payoneer’s network.
US was followed by the U.K. and Brazil, which each saw a jump in gig worker earnings over the past year, up 59% and 48%, respectively. Asia, however, recorded the greatest regional growth, with earnings up 138% across four countries.
Here’s the top 10 list of freelance markets in 2019 based on year-on-year revenue growth.
Top 10 countries for freelancers
1. United States - 78%
2. United Kingdom - 59%
3. Brazil - 48%
4. Pakistan - 47%
5. Ukraine - 36%
6. Philippines - 35%
7. India - 29%
8. Bangladesh - 27%
9. Russia - 20%
10. Serbia - 19%
The boost in revenues over the past year is on account of improved perceptions over the viability of such freelance work, as per Iain McNicoll, vice president and regional head for the Americas at Payoneer.
McNicoll added, “We’re seeing more and more professionals leaving their jobs to join the gig economy. Whether it’s the flexible hours, the absence of a manager looking over your shoulder or the desire to build up your own business, workers don’t feel the need to be tied to their offices anymore.”
The report clearly points out that online freelancing has become an affordable option for many Filipinos and gives them an opportunity to boost their incomes with side gigs. What has also helped is the initiative taken by the government such government projects like the Rural Impact Sourcing Project of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to help Filipinos learn much-needed “digital skills.” Recently renamed DigitalJobsPH Technical Training, this project aims to help people find work as digital entrepreneurs and freelancers in the ICT field.
