Freelancing platforms bringing jobs to poor areas in the Philippines

Technology has changed the way we work, giving us so much flexibility and the option to work in the comfort of our own homes. But is it also fulfilling its promise of bringing more and better quality jobs to rural areas?

Evan Tan, Freelancer.com regional director for Southeast Asia, certainly thinks so – at least in the case of the Philippines. He says with the emergence of online freelancing sites, one no longer needs to move to the capital or a major city to find a job.

“Online freelancing platforms give everyone an equal opportunity to pursue what they want to do, no matter what their economic, social, and educational backgrounds may be.”

Apart from Freelancer.com, other sites connecting freelance workers with global clients for short term tasks that are active in the country include Elance-oDesk and Raket.ph.

Tan says they are working with the government’s ICT Office to bring jobs to rural areas, which are mostly also poor, in line with the country’s information and communication technology roadmap.

Under that roadmap, the Philippines aims to generate at least 1.6 million IT-related outsourced jobs for Filipinos by 2016, with at least 40 percent of this number coming from the countryside.

Mon Ibrahim, the ICT Office deputy executive director, recognizes that progress may take some time in rural areas, particularly the southern island of Mindanao, which continues to be hampered by violence. Talks on a proposed law to create a new autonomous government for Muslims in Mindanao – seen crucial in attaining peace in the area – was suspended after an operation to capture an al Qaeda-linked bombmaker went disastrously wrong, with 44 commandos from the Philippine police ambushed and killed.

In a recent forum on rural outsourcing jobs, Ibrahim said, “Most of our well-known companies in the IT-business process management industry are hesitant to locate in Mindanao. The government, however, realizes the potential of impact sourcing or online jobs to provide alternative means of employment in these areas.”

Jobs concentrated in capital region

Citing data from the Philippines’ National Statistical Coordination Board, Tan says 10 of the 16 poorest provinces of the country are in Mindanao.

There is still much to be done to decentralize employment and fuel development across the provinces, he adds, as jobs are still concentrated in Metro Manila – the financial heart of the fast-growing economy.

A quick browse of Jobstreet, for instance, will tell you that there are over 43,000 job openings in NCR, which, Tan stresses, is more than the number for all the other regions combined. He says Northern Mindanao has over 450 job openings; Davao, over 890; Soccsksargen, over 220; Central Visayas, over 3,200; Ilocos, over 830; and CAR, more than 630.

“We think that a lot of jobs are unfairly concentrated in Metro Manila. I even remember a story about Makati City’s population dwindling to half a million from two million during the weekends, which means 1.5 million workers travel to the city on weekdays,” he says, referring to the Philippines’ premier business district. “It’s not an unfamiliar story when you hear about one relative or a friend leaving their provinces ‘to look for better opportunities’ in the capital.”