Freelance-friendly cities to work in
ALTHOUGH the global job landscape has been disturbed after months of lockdown, the coronavirus pandemic has knocked the door down for more freelance work for professionals of all generations.
As a growing number of companies embrace teleworking as the new norm, a recent study by Carphone Warehouse – a mobile phone retailer based in London – reveals which cities in the world are the most freelance-friendly.
Researchers analysed 10 different metrics to classify the 30 cities that offer the best quality of life for freelance workers.
Among them are employment rate, monthly income, rent, public transportation, healthcare, the number of co-working spaces, and Internet speeds.
The top city for professionals seeking a portfolio career is Austin, Texas, which ranks high on parameters like employment rate, monthly salary and the overall quality of life.
Chiang Mai, Berlin and Barcelona are also among the most freelance- friendly cities in the world, all of them performing well when it comes to employment rate, Internet speeds and the overall quality of life.
Cities in emerging economies like Bangladesh, Kenya, and Egypt consistently rank low on various parameters, including Internet speeds as well as leisure activities and quality of life.
However, Cairo ranks the third cheapest city to live for freelancers in terms of monthly rent, coming after Lahore in Pakistan and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
More surprisingly, the Indian capital has the highest number of co-working spaces (714) among the cities in the list.
Delhi is followed by London in England and Hong Kong, where freelancers can pick their new office corner out of 509 and 422 co-working spaces, respectively.
While Melbourne, Amsterdam, Toulouse and Montreal score healthily for quality of life, Austin boasts an impressive performance scoring top marks for both leisure activities and quality of life. – AFP Relaxnews