The Philippines might have the slowest Internet speed in Southeast Asia. However, this does not stop Filipinos in finding work online.
400,000 Strong in the Country
According to Jorge Azurin, country manager of online job marketplace Freelancer.com, there are now over 400,000 freelancers residing in the Philippines. What’s interesting is that most of the company’s freelancers are from the provinces.
What is the reason behind Freelancer’s user growth from Philippine provinces? I suspect that in cities such as Manila, there are opportunities to work on high paying jobs – or even have 2 jobs at once – one permanent and another one on the sideline.
In some of the country’s provinces, wage is lower than the rate in Metro Manila. Because of that, sites like Freelancer.com offer a nice opportunity that can break the wage barrier between working in Manila and in the provinces.
To prove this point, Azurin mentioned that there were some provincial freelancers who got projects worth to at least P90,000 or $2,000. There are even some who were very successful and form their own teams and leverage on Freelancer.com as a means to get more clients.
As an Online Job Marketplace
Freeleancer is an online job marketplace where users can find work and offer services online. You can offer your services online just by looking at the jobs currently available. Similarly, as an employer, you can post a job where interested contractors can apply. The system works in such a way that the contractor gets paid on an hourly basis or via a fixed-rate decided upon during the initial deal.
Even with the slow Internet speed, Freelancer remains bullish about the Philippine market. Perhaps the stats above is one reason why the company, though an Australian firm, has a physical office in the country. Most of the company’s employees are also on the ground – which has grown from just 80 in the past few years to nearly 300 employees in the Makati office.
Read More: [Did You Know?] In The Philippines, People Pay More For Slower Internet
