Flexible schedule, working in comfy clothes, zero commute – these are some of the advantages that drove waves of people into the online freelancing industry in the Philippines over the years.
Sustained demand for cheap labor from overseas markets also helped grow the industry, now one of the emerging bright spots in the Philippine economy that’s disrupting traditional outsourcing.
Elance-oDesk, the largest company for online freelance services in the world, reveals its Philippine operations alone generate more than US$200 million (PHP9 billion) in income annually, while globally, revenues reach over $900 million.
However, as challenges like slow Internet connection and high taxes remain, there’s still plenty of room for growth.
Tech in Asia spoke to executives of some of the leading companies in the freelancing world about what they think it will take to make online freelancing in the Philippines more robust than ever. Here are key things they cited:
Better Internet infrastructure
One of the most crucial aspects of being an effective online freelancer is to be able to communicate efficiently with clients, “therefore having a secure, fast and stable Internet connection is imperative,” says Ian Mendoza, owner of eSerbisyo.
Unfortunately, Internet connection in the Philippines is among the slowest in the world, according to the latest NetIndex rankings of Internet broadband testing company Ookla. With an average speed of 3.49 megabits per second, Ookla ranks the Philippines 166th among the 195 countries included in its survey.
The report sparked calls for a probe into the services provided by telecommunications companies in the country. At the forefront of calls is Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, who wants to lead the investigation under the Senate committee he chairs.
Mendoza and other business execs, for their part, support whatever efforts launched so far to change the lackluster state of Philippine Internet.
Lyle Jover, CEO of Raket.ph, said, “Internet infrastructure… definitely needs to be improved.”
Ron Cirujano, Philippine country manager of Elance-oDesk, echoes Jover’s sentiment, adding that Internet should be “affordable and accessible all over the country.”
“The global growth of online work is happening now as technology creates the freedom to work more flexibly… Now, in order for online work to be as robust as other industries like business process outsourcing, the Philippines needs to have faster, more reliable Internet,” he explains.
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