Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is now a $150 billion industry, growing at 6% per year according to a report. Online workplaces and freelance market places have completely changed the recruitment dynamics around the world. Pakistan, being one of the most important emerging markets from Asia, has colossal talent and substantial contributions to the freelance industry.
However, the need for a local platform like oDesk or Elance has always been felt and there is an interesting new service which might fill this void. It is called Rozgar Pakistan and it is using the model of well established freelance services.
To get started with the service, you sign up as either a “Freelancer” or an “Employer”.
Freelancers can post their services which Rozgar Pakistan calls “GIGs.” You can set rates for different services, list your skills and expertise and choose related categories. Once approved, your offered GIGs will appear in their respective categories where Employers can view them, contact you and negotiate terms and rates before kicking off the deal.
Freelancer accounts can be linked with “Companies”. Company name and description will appear with the credentials of the freelancer in a GIG. Freelancers can also “Add Services” by specifying the exact details about the offered GIG. Once you publish the service, you will be notified via SMS that your GIG is live now.
Employers can sift through different categories of Rozgar Pakistan and search offered services from different freelancers. There is a diverse range of categories like WordPress, Web Development, Virtual Assistant, Blogging, Apps etc.
Rozgar Pakistan uses an “Escrow Funding” mode. An employer can fund the escrow at the start of the job. The service claims that the funds are released at the choice of employer, when the job is completed. The service also claims that payments are 100% secure. Freelancers can receive money in PKR in their accounts via Wire Transfer payment method.
What is surprising for me is that the company deducts $8 per wire transfer. That does not include 3.75% deduction from each package that is finalized. So let’s say you have done a deal of $100. At the end, you will get around $88 in hand. That is more than what should be charged for a local service.
Disputes can be filed in case of problems between freelancers and employers. Rozgar Pakistan will ask the freelancer to produce the proof for the dispute. All disputes are solved within 4 days after filing according to the service.
The website lacks portfolio management and clarity. Almost all the freelancer profiles I saw had no rating. Most of them were incomplete profiles, having no or very little information. But we are hoping that this will change with time as more data will be populated along the days to come.
One of the major flaws of Rozgar Pakistan is the one sided recruitment model. If I am an employer and want to put a job description with an offer on my own terms, Rozgar Pakistan seems to have no option to take care of this. An employer will have to sift through all the services painstakingly, negotiate and ask for specific details to match their requirements. However, this is something that is promised in future updates.
Another very confusing thing is that Rogzar Pakistan states that buyers will have to use “PayPal” service to buy any GIG. Yep, PayPal isn’t yet available in Pakistan. The whole concept for a local service goes out of the window if you are alienating local buyers. We hope this is fixed fast otherwise the venture is doomed to fail.
Rozgar Pakistan is a step in the right direction. Pakistan badly needs recruitment ventures like these in order to integrate open marketplace trends of the world. Local freelance hubs are a nascent market and Rozgar Pakistan has the chance to be get a foothold in the field but they have plenty of issues to sort out before that happens. You can visit the site here.
