FINANCIAL-technology firm PayPal painted a rosy outlook for the Philippine market, thanks to the growing freelancer transactions in the country, a company executive said on Tuesday.
Abhinav Kumar, head of Strategic Partnerships for PayPal Southeast Asia, said his group is optimistic the year 2018 will be “better” than the year prior, as more and more Filipinos are looking into landing freelance jobs from overseas.
“We have a very solid trajectory for this year. The Philippines is one of the fastest-growing market for us in this part of the world,” he said in an interview during the launch of its Global Freelancer Insights Report.
“The Philippines’s freelancer market is a growing segment and is poised for further upsurge, with more Filipinos looking to getting freelance work from overseas,” he added.
According to its own study, PayPal is the most popular platform for freelancers in the Philippines, with 86 percent of the respondents claiming to use the platform for receiving payments from overseas, and 93 percent of those using an invoicing service use PayPal. “The signals and signs are positive. We believe we are extremely relevant to this segment,” Kumar said.
The study showed the “gig economy” is very prominent in the Philippines, given the growing millennial population, which is attracted to the flexible working hours and the ability to be their own boss.
There are about 1.5 million freelancers in the gig economy in the Philippines.