Who knew that there are a million freelancers in Manila? According to this Mashable.com report, about an eighth of the world’s biggest freelance marketplace—one full million to be exact—hails from our city.
Elance and oDesk, two of the most popular online freelance marketplaces merged in 2013 to become Elance-odesk. Combined, Elance-odesk is now 8 million-strong, spread across 180 countries, easily becoming the biggest freelance marketplace in the world. “Elance-oDesk freelancers generated $750million worldwide in 2013 of which $76million (or PHP3.3 billion) was produced in the Philippines,” reports Ezra Ferraz.
In about 40 months from Jan 2010 to April 2014, freelancers from the Philippines have earned an astounding PHP9 billion. In 2013, Metro Manila was the top performing city, generating PHP1.3 billion in income. Iligan, Bacolod, and Davao follow suit.
Looks like more and more people are getting off the traditional office-employment set-up and owning their time. Good on you!
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Photo via WikiCommons
