Viable way to earn extra income: More Pinoys embracing online freelancing

MANILA, Philippines - More and more Filipinos are blazing the trail in online freelance work as a major source of livelihood or to earn extra income, leading online freelance platform Elance said in a report.

Data showed that over 95,000 Filipino freelancers are registered on Elance, specializing in administrative support, information technology (IT) and programming, and writing and translation, among others.

In the first quarter of the year alone, the number of Filipino freelancers registered on Elance surged 89 percent to 1,456.

Kjetil Olsen, vice president for Europe for Elance, said the progress in the Philippines is above the overall growth the company is experiencing worldwide.

 â€œIn fact, with the potential for even greater growth as companies continue to embrace online freelance work, the future is indeed bright for Filipino talents and local economy alike,” Olsen said.

More than 500,000 businesses and 2.3 million freelancers use Elance in over 170 countries.

The Philippines is one of the biggest markets for freelancers in the Elance platform, and ranked fourth in number of users and ninth in terms of earnings. Filipino freelancers earn an average hourly rate of $8.3 while Filipino IT and programming professionals are paid an hourly rate of $14.4.

A report issued by Elance, titled “The State of Filipino Freelance Market,” indicates that the country is a prime destination for freelancers because of factors such as a skilled and hardworking workforce, technologically savvy population and accelerating entrepreneurial communities, to name a few.

The report includes marketplace data from Elance and the results of a survey that was conducted in September 2012 among 120 selected Filipino freelancers registered on Elance.

Majority of respondents were female (59.2 percent), aged 32 and below (55.4 percent), and with a bachelor’s degree (67.7 percent). According to those surveyed, their primary skill sets are research (50.4 percent), writing and content (43.4 percent) and online marketing (31.8 percent).

Filipino freelancers love the idea of having control over their own schedule (76.9 percent), working wherever they please (74.8 percent), and having the opportunity to pursue their passions (71.2 percent). As a result, most users feel happier (67.7 percent) and more productive with their time (88.5 percent).

Most Filipino freelancers or about 40.8 percent of the respondents started having a full-time job with freelance work on the side while 20.8 percent of the respondents pursued freelance after being laid off.

Freelance work is a viable alternative or addition to an office job. Over 56 percent freelance full-time or as much as they can, and almost a quarter say they spend between 11 and 20 hours every week working on freelance jobs; 20 percent say they spend more than 40 hours a week on freelance work.

Most also prefer working on an hourly basis (46.9 percent) compared with project basis (37.7 percent). However, the biggest challenge these freelancers face is competition with other freelancers (79.2 percent)

Elance Philippine country manager Ronald Cirujano has been hired together with a team of freelancer mobilizers in Cagayan de Oro and Cebu in order to introduce Filipino talents to online freelancing and train them in achieving success through workshops and learning sessions.

Cirujano said Elance is committed to bring more opportunities of online work to Filipino talents.

 â€œIn the first quarter of  2013, we saw more than 4,600 jobs and projects being awarded to Filipino freelancers on Elance from businesses all over the world and this number will continue to grow fast as more businesses and talents come to work online.”

Today over 500,000 businesses and two million freelancers use Elance in 170+ countries. Headquartered in Mountain View, California and Oslo, Norway, Elance is a privately-held company.