With the advent of rapid digitalization, many developing countries like Bangladesh are focusing on the digital economy: a global market for digital outsourcing. The digitalization of a country’s economy not only drives innovation in its service industry, but it also fuels domestic job opportunities, enabling faster economic growth. In the quest to lower costs and risks, many large corporations in developed nations like the US, UK, and Australia are turning to IT outsourcingfrom countries including Bangladesh, leading to a recent boom in freelancing. Freelancing jobs include everything from computer programming to web design, tax preparation, and search engine optimization. This has generated a wide range of new opportunities for people in emerging markets that did not previously exist. Asia has become the number-one region for providing outsourcing services to the rest of the world. Freelancing offers many advantages, including the freedom to choose clients and projects, access to the global market, and flexibility over the location. Most importantly, freelancers can avoid the long, frustrating hours commuting in trafficin the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. Consequently, freelancing has become a popular career option for many Bangladeshi people, offering a new and flexible source of income that suits their lifestyles. The rapid digitalization of Bangladesh – including easy internet access in urban areas and government and non-government initiatives to promote freelancing – has contributed to the recent growth of this way of working. As a result, Bangladesh has already become the second-largest supplier of online labour, according to the Oxford Internet Institute (OII). About 500,000 active freelancers are regularlyworkingout of 650,000 registered freelancers in the country, generating $100 million annually, according to the ICT Division of Bangladesh. India is the largest supplier of online labour, with close to 24% of total global freelance workers, followed by Bangladesh (16%) and the US (12%). Different countries focus on different sectors of freelancing services. For instance, technology and software development is dominated by Indian freelancers, while Bangladesh is the top supplier of sales and marketing support services.
