Pakistan Institute of Development Economics

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Freelancing In Pakistan
Webinars Brief 100:2022
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Freelancing In Pakistan

Publication Year : 2022
Explore More : Webinars Brief

Freelancing refers to offering services to clients as a self-employed worker by setting our own hours from the comfort of home. The freelancing industry in Pakistan has been progressing rapidly. Availability of modern technology and internet facility has helped many people in Pakistan to excel in freelancing and earn independently. The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) hosted a webinar with famous freelancers in the country. In this webinar they provided an insight to the operation of freelancing industry in Pakistan and the hurdles faced by the freelancers. The main objective of this webinar is:

  • To address the challenges faced by the freelancers in Pakistan and how to cope with them.
  • To create awareness among people to work on their capacity building rather than staying on stagnation mode and the opportunities associated with this industry which helps in career growth.

 

TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS WEBINAR

 

  • Freelancing not only includes earning by providing services to clients but it also motivates us to polish and upgrade our skills. It encourages us to create our own micro agencies and provide employment opportunities which contributes to the economy of Pakistan.
  • Freelancing helps us in making connections with major companies internationally that leads to growth in freelancing industry because the entire world becomes a market for freelancers so with the skills and expertise one can excel in their work and even opt for other career paths as it broadens our vision.
  • Freelancing involves interaction with the global audience which means that it will help in identifying their problems and providing solutions to those problems which results in building your own service companies and provide services globally. Freelancing opens gates to many opportunities for freelancers.
  • Stagnation in freelancing does not help in the growth of this industry. Here growth is related to the mindset of freelancers. Some prefer to only earn through freelancing and are not concerned about their growth. However, others are interested to take their skills to the next level and build their own companies and enterprises.
  • Freelancers should have some experience in the formal employment in order to deal and negotiate with their clients. Maintaining a healthy relation with their clients is significant to attract more projects and work.
  • More freelancers in Pakistan means that there are more entrepreneurs which results in growth of the economy of the country.
  • Practice experience as well as good portrayal and good communication skills are very important for freelancers to get more work and attract more clients. There are other ways to which helps in getting more work. For example, there is an option in Fiverr to make requests for clients to convince them, posts on Facebook and other social media platform are also helpful in engaging with the clients.

 

CHALLENGES RELATED TO FRELACING INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN

 

  • Financial inclusions and public services has always been a problem for freelancers. They face hurdles in receiving their payments in Pakistan and have fear of investigation for transferring large amount of their earnings to their bank accounts.
  • When working with different agencies the right for recognition is not provided to the freelancers as the credit of their services goes to the agencies for which they are working for or with which they have signed the contract. The right for recognition depends on the effort they make for it to achieve that. Here personal branding plays a major role in showing their visibility and wanting to get the credit for it.
  • Many beginners in freelancing get exploited by the sub-contractors who get work from abroad for higher wages and pay less to the people working under them. That is why creating awareness among them especially new comers is vital to avoid becoming the victim of this type of exploitation.