Due to an increase in demand for gig workers, which allows organisations to tap high-potential talent from a diverse pool of people, Indian women freelancers are earning more for their projects than they did a year ago.
According to a global poll conducted by American digital payments services company Payoneer, professional women freelancers in the country saw a 42 percent growth in their average hourly earnings rate to $22/hour in 2022, up from $14/hour in 2020.
According to the “Freelancer Income Report 2022,” which was shared exclusively with ET, this puts the average hourly earnings rate of female gig workers in India on level with their global counterparts. A total of 2,300 freelancers from all over the world took part in the study.
According to the poll, freelancers in India are seeing an increase in demand and opportunities from foreign tasks. The Indian freelancing community’s average hourly rates (male and female) increased from $21 in 2020 to $26 in 2022.
The data also shows that the salary disparity between men and women in India has narrowed marginally since 2020. In 2022, Indian women will earn 81 percent of what their male colleagues earn, with average hourly rates of $22/hour vs $27/hour for men. Before COVID, the pay disparity between men and women was 77 percent. In contrast to their counterparts in industrialised markets such as the United States, where the gender pay ratio is 71 percent, Indian women freelancers have a significantly superior pay ratio.
India outperforms the global average hourly earnings rate in a variety of categories.
Overall, Indian freelancers outperformed their global counterparts, able to demand a higher average hourly rate for some of the most popular professions, such as finance, which demanded $71 per hour against a global average of $41 and marketing, which demanded $47 per hour against a global average of $34. The premium that Indian freelancers demand reflects a growing global acceptance of Indian job quality.
“In the global gig economy, Indian freelancing is driving a value-driven change.” “We’ve seen a steady increase in freelancer income and their migration to more specialised industries like marketing, coding, and finance in the last several years,” said Rohit Kulkarni, Senior Vice President of Payoneer India.
“More freedom, better-skilled prospects, and higher earnings are some of the factors that are causing more professionals to enter this economy,” he added.
Young Indian freelancers between the ages of 18 and 34 dominate the Indian freelancing industry. More than half of Indian respondents (57%) said they get most of their work from online marketplaces like Upwork, Fiverr, and others, while just 7% said they get it from conventional channels like word of mouth and referrals.
Business growth, such as expanding into new markets and managing time and fee agreements, were among the top issues faced by Indian freelancers.
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