All about freelancing in Pakistan | 2022 Guide

Pakistan stands fifth in the list of the countries in the world that constitute the largest generation of young people. Youth aged between 15 and 33 comprises 63 percent of the population of Pakistan (UN Population Fund Report 2017). Provided the resources of technology this 63% of the young population has immense potential for freelancing. That being the case, when it comes to freelancing Pakistan stands 4th, with 47% growth in freelance earnings among the top five countries in the world with a rapidly growing freelance market. Consequently, Pakistan has been able to generate a notable calculated amount of $0.5 billion completely from freelancing.

Importance of freelancing

Subsequently, the promotion of freelancing in Pakistan is of great consequence. Firstly, the global marketplaces are progressing, and the advent of factors like the use of the internet, Artificial intelligence, and Robotics, are threats to mass unemployment in workplaces. This is specifically unfavorable for us in Pakistan, 70% of our population youth is below 30 years.

Secondly, freelancing is a flexible way of working and is suitable for people like students, women who want to work from home, and specially-abled. People all over the world are availing this opportunity to make money while working from home.

Thirdly, freelancers are beginning to get outsource short-term projects in skilled categories that they do not possess in-house. Many proficient entrepreneurs are switching to freelancing to develop even their business plans.

Top Services Offered by Freelancers

According to the reports, some of the most wanted services offered by the freelance talent of Pakistan are graphic designing, web development, and programming. Therefore, if you are willing to start freelancing in Pakistan you have to choose the services that are most desired in the freelance marketplace and accordingly polish your skills.

The best services provided by Pakistani freelancers are web development, cloud computing, web app development, project management, WordPress and design development, video editing, data analysis, development of mobile applications, Book-keeping for SMEs, social media marketing, content writing, blogging, social media manager, and blockchain and Cryptocurrency Programming.

Graphic Designing, Online Marketing, content writing, Cold Calling for Sales, Web and Application Development, lead generation, AI, and Machine Learning, due to their high success rate are some of the most frequently outsourced jobs to freelancers or the BPO industry in Pakistan. These remote workers directly earn foreign exchange for the country as they generate income by selling their services or products to the international market.

Freelance Training Initiatives

As the demand for freelancing is increasing in Pakistan, the government of Pakistan has taken the initiative to provide freelance training spearheaded by the “The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication” (MoITT) to help the youth to polish their skills and achieve their goals. Following the success of skilled freelancers, Pakistan’s gig economy may exceed a level of professionalism.

The popular training programs are the National Freelance Training Program (NFTP), and digiskills.pk. These training programs have been designed to provide contemporary training to freelancers across all provinces of Pakistan.

Moreover, these ambitious programs aim to achieve feasible economic growth through women empowerment, diminishing inequality, maintaining gender balance, and leading-edge training. Hence, this will in turn help to elevate global partnerships, representations, and social hoisting of underdeveloped regions of the nation.

“Zero tax” for IT freelancers

As the IT sector is expanding, Pakistan is ranked in the list of the top destinations for Internet Communications and Technology (ICT) outsourcing.

The potential displayed by Pakistan’s inexhaustible talent in all things tech can be taken to heights of success in BPO (business process outsourcing). Let it be academically or professionally, mostly the younger generation powers the IT industry of Pakistan.

For freelancers in Pakistan getting global recognition isn’t a problem as the internet, online gig portals, and digital media are available. Currently, one million freelancers among the majority hailing from the megacities of Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad, are working in Pakistan.

One of the most financially attractive countries to outsource tech jobs in the world is Pakistan, nurturing over one million freelancers and 6000 IT companies. Currently, the freelancing industry in Pakistan has generated over half a billion dollars in revenue.

Hence, Pakistan has ranked yet again 4th in Software Development and Technology. Considering this outstanding result, PM Imran Khan has announced a “zero tax” policy for the registered e-freelancers.

However, if the number of freelancers continues to grow at this pace in Pakistan, and freelancing is taken to a more advanced level by the government towards making freelancing easier, then it is estimated that the $2.4 billion mark of revenue shall be crossed over the next five years.

Managing time zones

Most freelancers of Pakistan work with foreign clients. So, they have to mostly work at night as the US and European time zones do not match. You can miss out on a great number of foreign clients, due to the difference in time zones. Your Monday night is late Sunday afternoon in the U.S. and your Friday morning is their evening. It seems tough but in the end, all of it is worth the pay as you earn a good amount of money.

Therefore, it’s important to manage time to get clients efficiently. You need to check the time where the majority of clients relevant to your niche are coming from. According to the client’s daytime, you may set your schedule to pitch projects or discuss the project details through video or audio chat. This may guarantee timely delivery of your project on the client’s desired deadline.

Work from home opportunity for women

In Pakistan, the workforce of women in workplaces is still low. Many are still not allowed to work at the workplace thus, freelancing is a bright opportunity for them to earn and polish their skills while sitting at home. There is no restriction on time and place, so freelancing is proven to be convenient for them to work whenever and wherever they want.
Payoneer, an American financial services company, conducted a survey showing that Pakistani women freelancers are earning 10% more than the $20 an hour earned by men, that is $22. While Pakistani male freelancers’ earnings are at face value with the global average, Pakistani females are earning higher than the global average for freelancers.

Freelance Websites available for Pakistani freelancers

Multiple freelance websites are available in Pakistan from freelancer to Upwork and Fiverr to PeoplePerHour.

1. Freelancer is one of the most trusted and oldest freelancing websites in the world. It has been considered useful in the global freelancing industry for more than a decade. The majority of freelancers from Pakistan are generating their income from Freelancer.com. This online freelancing portal is located in Sydney, Australia.
2. Upwork, on this platform over 12 million active freelancers are available for a variety of gigs. Around three million jobs are posted on Upwork every year. According to your relevant skills and experience, you need to create and submit a profile to become a registered freelancer on the website. Once your profile gets approved and reviewed, it will start appearing to clients looking to hire freelancers from across the globe.
3. Fiverr is a highly popular freelancing marketplace used by almost every freelancer in Pakistan looking to make money online. It is also ranked among the 100 most popular websites in the United States. Plus point about fiver is that You can sell your key skills in the form of gigs. Freelancers can even earn a minimum wage of $5 per.
4. Peopleperhour is a popular UK-based freelancing forum that has a large number of Pakistani freelancers registered on it. The website works on the principle of sending proposals to clients. You may send 15 proposals to different clients for free before you sign up for a premium plan. Every day hundreds of jobs are posted on PeoplePerHour.

Paypal alternatives in Pakistan

Pakistan doesn’t support payments through PayPal which is the largest and most reliable source for online payments, moreover, the Pakistani freelancing community has comparatively fewer payment options as compared to other global freelancers. Therefore, alternatives for Paypal are considered to receive and pay payments.

Moneygram, Payoneer, skrill, and Xoom are popularly used as alternatives that are operational in Pakistan and are simple and easy-to-use merchants for online payments, although Paypal is still not available in the country. As a consequence, the majority of freelancers shy away from foreign customers for the fear of not getting paid and only rely on local clients. Nevertheless, in Pakistan freelance is consistently growing and is showing no signs of decline.

Paypal holds an advantage that leads it to the top list, as it deducts less amount of fee on funds transfer, it is considered to be a better or more feasible option than all other merchants.

However, both government and individual levels are putting their efforts required to bring PayPal to Pakistan, so that the freelancing industry can further benefit the overall economy of Pakistan. Keeping in mind the situation and non-availability of Paypal, Pakistani freelancers accordingly rely on alternate payment methods for receiving payments online from their clients.