THE FUTURE OF WORK: THE RISE OF FREELANCING AND THE GIG ECONOMY

With the heavy traffic getting worse in Metro Manila and the rising demand to achieve life and work balance especially for parents, the gig economy or more popularly known as work-from-home jobs are becoming a very viable option for many Filipinos.

Can you imagine the long hours of commute from your house to work and back again? Some employees experience a total of six to eight hours just commuting. That is true! Insane, right? That’s 40 hours a week wasted. That’s 160 hours a month that could have been used for family bonding or learning a new skill or hobby. Or more hours of sleep, too. This is why many Filipinos are looking for alternatives. Even our government passed the Telecommuting Act or the “Work from Home Law.”

If you are part of the gig economy, you no longer experience the horror of being stuck in traffic for a long period. Freelancing is such a perfect idea for many Filipinos nowadays. All you need is a working laptop and strong internet connection, (a headset for some voiced accounts), and you are all set! In fact there are many BPOs in the United States who opt to choose freelancers instead of hiring companies because they save thousands in office space rentals.

Freelancers can find gigs online via different platforms such as Upwork.com, Onlinejobs.ph, Fiverr and LinkedIn, to name a few. We can find clients via social media as well.

There are a variety of tasks and skills that we can offer clients both local and abroad. There’s lead generation, customer service, data encoding, transcription, social media management, web design, blogging, content writing and being a virtual assistant. The hourly rate can range from as low as $3/hour to $25/hour or even more. Some freelancers have full-time jobs while others have several and

multiple clients making the net income even bigger.

Because of the Internet, the opportunities for Filipinos are now limitless. There are no more boundaries as to how much we can earn. The playing field is now even. It doesn’t matter if we are in a developing country. We can now earn the same amount as someone who lives in developed countries. This is a skill-based industry. For as long as you can deliver excellent service, it doesn’t matter where you are in the world. Thank you, internet.

What makes freelancing phenomenal is that, even grandparents and PWDs can have jobs. There is no age limit or fitness requirement. For as long as you can deliver the task, you are welcome in this industry. Even undergraduates have a place, too. While it offers great advantages, there are many risks in the gig economy. One, be very vigilant because there are a lot of scammers on the internet. Never give your ID to anyone online. Never allow anyone to use your social media account for transactions. Always ask for upfront payment for huge transactions because clients can easily run away after getting your deliverables and you are left unpaid for the hours you worked for.

While there are long-term jobs that last for two to three years, there are many short-term gigs as well. Some of these jobs are project-based and the freelancer needs to constantly find clients who will get their services. Some people think there is no stability in the gig economy. That may be true at first but once you have established a very solid portfolio, it is very easy to find new clients. There’s even a point freelancers hire another freelancer to help them finish the task. They build agencies to cope with the workload.

One major thing to consider is that the benefits we used to have in a corporate job (healthcare, SSS, Philhealth, taxes) are now voluntary. In our previous jobs, our employers took care of these for us through salary deduction. As a freelancer, we are now responsible to file for these ourselves.

One downside is that it can get lonely sometimes since you work from home most of the time. That is why Facebook communities like ours, Online Filipino Freelancers (OFF) was established so we can connect with fellow freelancers and to provide good interaction.

Lastly, since we rely so much on the internet, we cry for faster internet speed. This is our bread and butter. I believe the gig economy can be a great contributor to our country’s growth.

Overall, the advantages outweigh the risks. As a freelancer for eight years now, I will always choose this life and will not trade the perfect balance I enjoy, getting to travel and be with my kids while earning a decent amount of money.

CJ Maturino-Cajoles is the founder of Online Filipino Freelancers (OFF), a Facebook community that helps Filipinos to successfully transition from their corporate jobs to being full-time work-from-home professionals. A freelancer since 2011, she loves to share how to become a successful work-at-home mom.