Online Freelancing Expands
Freelancer.com, one of the world’s largest online freelancing marketplace is looking forward to expanding its reach into the country and drive business development for Malaysian freelancers. The service currently has more than 7 million users from 234 countries.
“SME owners are usually looking for economical ways to run their business, and via Freelancer.com, they have an efficient and cost-effective way to harness the human resource potential of internet users,” says Willix Halim, Freelancer.com’s Vice President of Growth, at a recent media briefing. “By using our portal, these business owners can post jobs in a secure and organised manner, and find the perfect person to execute their work projects at the most competitive rate, based on bidders’ resumes and work experience.”
Citing a report by McKinsey & Company on the impact of the internet on economies, he point out that Malaysia is one of the front-ranking developing countries where the internet contributes to the country’s GDP.
“Many Malaysian users have already discovered how working online can raise their incomes dramatically as well as grow their clientele quickly and cost-efficiently. With Freelancer.com, talented Malaysians will enjoy secure and dependable features and round-the-clock 24/7 help from our support team. Soon they will also be able to use a range of localised features. This borderless world of employment opportunity is expected to make a strong impact as statistics show that out of Malaysia’s estimated population of more than 29 million, 17.5 million are internet users, including 5 million broadband users, 2.5 million wireless broadband users, and 10 million 3G subscribers,” Willix elaborates.
Since Malaysians started using the website in 2009, 27,207 projects have been posted and US$851,679.78 earned by freelancers. Statistics show that the jobs mostly originate from the Klang Valley, with Malaysian employers mainly hiring freelancers from South Asia. In line with the growth of ICT industries, the most popular project types awarded were for PHP, software architecture, MySQL and software testing, working out to 27% of all projects awarded.
