News Desk |
With an ever-growing population of freelancers in the country and initiatives taken by local bodies such as PITB, Pakistan has become Asia’s biggest epicenter for the internet’s ever-expanding market of remote work. According to a report by one of the leading payment platforms, Payoneer Global Gig Economy Index for Q2 2019, Pakistan with its 47% growth rate, now ranks at fourth number among the fastest-growing freelance markets in the world.
According to Payoneer, the U.S. leads the chart in terms of its freelance earnings in the second quarter of 2018, with the figure rising 78%. At the second position is the UK with 59% growth in its freelance market. Brazil with 48% growth secured the third position. Pakistan that is considered a developing country is growing in terms of its freelance market. It has become the fourth fastest-growing freelance market with 47% growth.
Ukraine is ranked at 5th spot with 36% growth. Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Russia, and Serbia have secured 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th position with 35%, 29%, 27%, 20%, and 19% growth in the freelance market respectively.
Thanks to its direct line into the world’s digital cash flows, Payoneer is able to provide granular insights into why Asian countries like Pakistan, in particular, have ridden the crest of the gig economy’s massive wave. It also helps build a case for their continued success in this regard.
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As Pakistan has become one of the leading freelance markets in the world, credit must be given to the initiatives taken by local bodies like PITB to attract and give a boost to freelancing industry in the country.
Programs like e-Rozgar freelancing, Youth Affairs, Sports, and Archeology & Tourism (YASAT)’s have helped in training over 9,000 unemployed graduates who earned 100 million rupees via freelancing altogether. They have ensured that Pakistan becomes Asia’s biggest growing market for remote work in the world.
In the race of freelancing, Pakistan has beaten other countries including India to claim the top spot among Asia nations that showed steep upwards growth in their gig economies. The US stood first among the fastest-growing freelance markets with a rising figure of 78% since the last year’s same period.
Notably, Pakistan is a defining country in the freelancer landscape of 2019, and Payoneer’s Gig Economy Index demonstrates how successful its efforts were to drive demand for an increasingly-skilled (and connected) workforce. Pakistan has directly benefited by nurturing its younger and naturally tech-savvy population, 70% of which are under 30 years old.