*Draft report Helani Galpaya, Suthaharan Perampalam

Exploring online freelance workforce in Sri Lanka*

*Draft report Helani Galpaya, Suthaharan

Perampalam, Laleema Senanayake September 2017

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This report explores and estimates Sri Lankan Freelancers who works on online outsourcing platforms which is a niche of online platforms.

Executive Summary Research Overview

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Transformation of nature of work and rise of the platform economy

According to the 2015 Human Development Report, work transformations are being driven by globalization and technological revolution and there is a shift happening from mechanical to digital technology (UNDP, 2016). The phenomena of technology changing the boundaries of the firm is not new, and has been documented since the first half of the twentieth century (Coarse, 1937). The first wave of business process outsourcing (BPO) took place thanks to the advent of high-‐speed digital connectivity, which enabled the transfer of vast amounts of data across borders, to locations that had lower costs. Initially work was transferred from one firm, to the same firm’s subsidiary located in the cheaper overseas location. Over time, work started being transferred to non-‐captive firms too. Within the last two decades, this transformation has happened online, where work is posted online, in online outsourcing platforms. Apart from this, modern companies like Amazon, Uber, Google and Facebook, enables human activities online, which facilitate the rise of a platform economy.

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Freelancing vs Micro work platforms

Unlike the traditional Business Process Management (BPM) industry that uses bilateral contracts between the firm and its captive/non-‐captive service provider (based overseas or in the same country but outside the firm), the past two decades has seen another type of outsourcing, namely, Microwork. Microwork breaks down large chunks of work in to small and simple tasks that rely on human intelligence and distribute these “micro tasks” to workers via the Internet for greater cost efficiencies across geographic boundaries (Kuek et al., 2014). Such outsourced work does not require long-‐drawn out/negotiated bi-‐lateral contracts. Each job is usually extremely low value so as to enable to the buyer to outsource the work to more than one seller where necessary, paying for (i.e. “buying”) all jobs that are completed, but only using the best output.

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Traditional IT-‐BPM sector outsourcing involves a contract between two firms, not individuals. But in microwork, it is more common to have at least one party (usually the seller of services, but and at times both parties) be individuals. But firm-‐to-‐firm contracts are also seen, though this is not common. Novice unskilled workers who work online to earn money normally do microwork. These micro tasks generally are ad click, media tagging, data input, and data verification. Few of the microwork platforms famous in Sri Lanka are Gigbucks and clixsense.

Few platforms that were formed during the last decade have gone a step further, targeting skilled professionals. Typical “jobs” that are outsourced through these online outsourcing platforms include and not limited to market research, information gathering, proof-‐reading, website design, translation, copy editing, accounting and graphic design. The advantage of working in these platforms for buyers and sellers are the value commensurate for the amount of time spent, access to skilled professionals, and guaranteed payments.

The time taken to complete a task posted on these platforms may vary from days to weeks. A few examples for famous online outsourcing platforms in Sri Lanka are Fiverr, Freelancer and Upwork.

The two types of online outsourcing platforms are microwork platforms and freelance platforms

Source: Tobias Hoßfeld, Matthias Hirth, Phuoc Tran-‐Gia, 2011

(continued)

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Online outsourcing platforms facilitates buyers and sellers to interact with each other

online

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Both micro work and online freelancing is enabled by an online platform where buyers and sellers find each other and complete the end-‐to-‐end transaction: starting from market discovery (where the buyers and sellers find each other), the buyer sources the work from the seller of service, the buyer and seller communicate during the carrying out of the work, the buyer pays the seller upon completion of the work. The platforms enable sellers to advertise themselves (by adding what is referred to as a gig, or profile, which could include a listing of skills, uplaoding links to previous work, and other details, depending on the site). The buyer can select the seller (worker) directly based on a search process (including examining the seller’s previous work and reputational rank on the platform), or the buyer can advertise the job and enable multiple sellers to bid for the job and select one based on lowest price or other critiera. The sellers are ranked based on multiple critieria including the buyers ranking as well as other indicators automatically

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measured by the platform itself (such as response time). The platforms (or websites) usually make money by charging a commission out of what the seller (worker) is paid by the buyer.

The traditional BPM industry requires the provider of services to maintain an office, employ people, provide quality assuarance in order to satisfy the contractual obligations with the buyer (the outsourcer). Online outsourcing platforms usually don’t take on a explicit quality-‐assuarance role (though some sense it does because most platforms allow sellers reputations to be ranked based on buyer reviews), does not enter into employment contracts with the sellers (“workers”) and does not provide offices/locations for the workers to work at to provide services.

For workers (sellers), online outsourcing has generated new opportunities to access work in a global market, anywhere at anytime, as long as they have a computer, Internet access and the skills (Kuek et al., 2014).

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Research questions and method This research explores whether it is possible that the digital dividends could be spread more inclusively (beyond the educated elite) through participation on online freelancing and microwork platforms in Sri Lanka. We examined whether it is already happening and how the policy makers can encourage it. A Multi – Prolonged Research including the Northern Province of Sri Lanka was adapted in this study. The research consisted of a quantitative component where we conducted a baseline survey covering the population between the ages of 15-‐40 years

in Sri Lanka with a sample of 5,377 to understand the awareness of online Freelancing among the workforce of Sri Lanka (LIRNEasia, Nationally representative survey on online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016, Base: 5,377). To add to this we surveyed 160 potential freelancers of Sri Lanka to identify their skill level and willingness to work in these platforms (LIRNEasia, Survey on potential of online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016, Base: 160). This survey was conducted between January-‐ March 2016. To validate our estimates on the number of workers by calculating the registered freelancers in Online Platforms

and the estimates of earnings that people make online from focus group discussions (FGDs) and In Depth Interviews (IDIs) we conducted a survey among 84 current freelancers who attended Dialog’s FreelancerSL 2.0 event on 22nd of October 2016 (LIRNEasia, Non representative survey on online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016, Base: 84). We also conducted qualitative research to identify the socio cultural issues attached with working online in the form of FGDs and IDIs among current and potential freelancers of Sri Lanka (LIRNEasia , Qualitative research on online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016).

We attempted answer the following research questions using a mix of methodologies. • What is the current incidence of awareness, and participation (i.e. doing work) on online

outsourcing platforms in Sri Lanka? • What are the skills needed to do the type of jobs commonly available via popular on online

outsourcing platforms? What is the availability of such skills in the country? • What are attitudes and traditions that make on online outsourcing an attractive or unattractive

employment option for people with the requisite skills? • What are the barriers (beyond attitudes) faced by those working on such platforms, or those

hoping to work on such platforms?

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LIRNEasia, Nationally representative survey on online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016, Base: 5,377

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Introduction

Sri Lanka is a lower middle-‐income country that has

benefited significantly from the increase in business process management (BPM) work.

Many global BPM

operations have set up business in Sri Lanka, and provide a range of services to overseas clients,

Sri Lanka as an outsourced work destination BPO/ BPM Industry of Sri Lanka

Rajika: A success story of online freelancing Rajika Nanayakkara (25 years) discovered online freelancing at a time he was beginning to grow restless from working as an IT administrator at a private company. “A stable income and sense of comfort is not a good trade off to perform routine and monotonous work,” says Rajika. Following a with a friend, Rajika started exploring freelancing options. In the beginning, he experimented by doing the most commoditized form of microwork – adcliking. However, the earning was very minimal -‐ at around USD 10 cents to 20 cents per adclick -‐ so , he invested his time for about two years into intensive learning through free online courses and resources. After various hits and misses, he migrated from doing microwork to freelancing work such as professional website development and graphic designing services as a freelancer. Thereafter, with perseverance and hardwork, he progressed to earn six times more than what he earned through his previous full time job by offering his services on multiple online platforms. Over the span of four years, Rajika transformed from a freelancer to the co-‐founder of Codoss Digital, which provides digital marketing services for international firms mainly based in the Europe and Australia. “The journey from being an IT administrator to an entrepreneur has not been easy yet deeply rewarding and satisfying,” says Rajika.

He says rigorous work needs to be done towards building your profile on freelancing sites to reach a higher ranking through consistent delivery of quality work. Afterwards

it was easy to form own venture using his freelancing client base.

Online freelancing is growing rapidly and gaining popularity within the younger generation. A recent global study conducted by manpower group highlights, more than 50% of millennials are open to non-‐traditional forms of employment. Over three -‐fourth of the respondents are working more than 40 hours a week, and nearly a quarter are working over 50 hours per week on multiple jobs including online freelancing. Source: LIRNEasia, Qualitative research on online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016

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ranging from the low-‐value added out-‐bound marketing calls or data entry, to in-‐and-‐out bound customer service centers for global banks, to high-‐value added activities such as medical image processing (reading x-‐rays), financial account processing and equity research for investment firms. The country has been a desirable location for offshoring for over decade and the BPM sector is projected to have strong growth rates for next few years (AT Kearney, 2015). The IT industry, (comprising of software services and software product firms) is also booming.

Together, the IT-‐BPM industry has over 300 registered firms (Daily FT, 2014), earned over USD 850 million in 2015 (SLASSCOM, 2016) and employed over 82,850 people (SLACC, 2016). Employment in the sector grew 17% between 2003 and 2010 (Department of Census and Statistics, 2015-‐a). The sector contributed 0.15 percent to the GNP in 2016 (Central Bank. 2015-‐a)1.

Over a decade ago the private sector and government also realized that Sri Lanka had one of the highest per capita rates of qualified charted accountants in any country. Therefore, instead of simply going after the inbound/outbound call center market (which is extremely price sensitive, dominated by India,

1 Calculated by the authors based on Central Bank data, 2015 (IT Programming Consultancy and Related Activities: 16,409, Total Gross National Income at Market Price: 10,931,932)

and difficult to attract and retain talent in), government and industry made an active push to pursue higher-‐value outsourcing work such as accounting, accounts processing. These, combined with relatively low market entry barriers (including the fact that the government encouraged and gave financial incentives for foreign investment in the BPO sector), improved high-‐speed Internet/data connectivity and lower labor costs, means the sector is predicted to continue its growth in the higher-‐end of the BPM sector.

Source: Sri Lanka, IT/ BPM destination

(http://srilankaitbpm.com/why-‐sri-‐lanka/#ranking) 3

2 Ranking updated by the author in line with latest rankings 3 Ranking updated by the author in line with latest rankings

Qualification profile of ICT workforce (2013)

Source: National ICT Workforce Survey, ICTA, 2013

Youth and female unemployment compared national unemployment level

Source: Sri Lanka Labor force Statistics, Department Census and Statistics (2010-‐ 2015)

The need for IT-‐BPM sector employment opportunities to reach the masses

The standard entry-‐level qualification for recruitment to this sector is a Bachelors degree, with 63% of the workforce holding a graduate or post-‐graduate level qualification in 2013 (ICTA, 2013). This means that the employees in IT-‐BPM sector are from the educated-‐class of the country. They are English-‐speaking, graduates who have qualified from the highly-‐selective local universities, branches of overseas universities present in Sri Lanka (which require high fees, therefore giving limited access to those unable to afford it) or universities overseas (which are even more expensive, therefore presenting limited opportunities for the masses), and the few who graduate from several private technical degree granting institutions in the country (which are not classified as universities).

Even though the literacy rate of Sri Lanka is high and the IT-‐BPM sector continues its boom, it is still not the domain of the masses, and there is a long way to go before it could provide significant employment opportunities.

Some segments of the population still have higher unemployment rates -‐ particularly females and youth. Female unemployment rate increased to 7.6% in 2015 compared to 6.5% in 2014. Youth unemployment is also high at over 20% in 2015 and not showing any improvement. The youth unemployment level in Sri Lanka is also far above that of the country’s regional peers. Making matters worse, there are no unemployment benefits for youth or women in Sri Lanka.

Online Freelancing and microwork in Sri Lanka: Is there potential?

A cursory glance at some of the commonly used online outsourcing platforms show that these are not unpopular in Sri Lanka, and that several of these are among some of the the top sites accessed by Internet users in Sri Lanka. Fiverr.com, Freelancer.com, Upwork.com and microworkers.com are a few of the well known online outsourcing sites in Sri lanka.

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The traditional IT-‐BPM sector work requires a bachelor’s degree as the minimum entry criteria, which is a reasonably high barrier to entry, given that Sri Lanka produces on average 25,000 university level bachelors degree holders per year, and only 5,778 of these are in computer science and engineering or related topics. But each year, it is estimated that an additional 1,250 men and women complete professional courses that fall short of a bachelor’s degree (Gamage & Wijesooriya, 2012). Many more partially complete other technical qualifications. Yet others are likely to have skills (e.g. general typing skills) that could benefit from online freelancing and microwork opportunities.

Sri Lanka has the highest literacy rate in South Asia, at 92.5% in 2012 (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2015b). 36.5% of the total population was able to read and write in English with 23.8% able to speak it (Department of Census and Statistics, 2012). 26.8% of the country’s population was computer literate4 in 2015 and over 25% of households had a computer (Department of Census and 4 Definition for Computer literacy: A person (aged 5-‐69) is considered as a computer literate person if he/she could use computer on his/her own. For example, even if a 5 years old child can play a computer game then he/she is considered as a computer literate person

Statistics, 2015b). Over 19.5% of the population had Internet Access (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2015b)

While there is much room for improvement in computer literacy and Intenet access, there is broad enough diffusion to make participation in online freelancing and microwork as service providers a viable option for many, beyond the elite and educated.

There is a potential for online outsourcing platforms to act

as a gateway to service sector jobs

Source: ILO, WB Database, Official statistics of respective countries

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Story of Sampath: Earning extra money working online Sampath works in a government organization. Sampaths’ father is a driver by profession and his mother is a housewife. Sampath has studied up to General Certificate of Education Advance Level (GCE A/L) examination of Sri Lanka. Post A/L he has done a few diploma courses on computing. Sampath don’t have an intension to migrate like others in his similar age in Sri Lanka. When Sampath go home after work, he spends 1-‐ 2 hours a day online. What does Sampath do online? Unlike most youth who has access to Internet and a cpmputer, he doesn’t browse youtube or social media or he doesn’t play games at this time. What he does is he works in online freelancing platforms. Sampath mainly works in the online platform called Fiverr. He learned how to work online from Internet itself. He says that a step by step guide on how to register and start working online was available in a Sinhala blog post and he was interested to explore this. By working online for 1-‐ 2 hours a day, Sampath earns around LKR 30,000-‐ 40,000. His earning from the full time job is around LKR 25,000-‐ 30,000. Sampath says that he is reluctant to do online work full time due to the insecurity attached with the work. He fears that the regulations of the country or the platforms may one day couse the shut down of the platform in Sri Lanka. If this happens, he fears that he will be left without an income source. So, he is quite happy to do this work part time, and earn extra money. Source: LIRNEasia, Qualitative research on online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016

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Online freelancing and microwork in Sri Lanka Nationwide awareness, willingness and skills to work in online freelancing/ microwork platforms

Nationwide survey among the age of 16-‐ 40 LIRNEasia subscribed to a target group of 16-‐40 years respondents in the general population of the National Media Survey (NDMS) conducted by Lanka Marketing Research Bureau. The total NDMS survey sample was 12,500. Out of this, LIRNEasia subscribed to a sample of 5,377.

The target group subscribed were adults within 16-‐ 40 age group, both males and females, Sec A, B, C, D and E, and all locations of Sri Lanka.

We subscribed this group because globally most micro workers or freelancers are within this age limit (World Bank, 2016)

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LIRNEasia, Survey on potential of online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016, Base: 160

Awareness of online freelancing platforms The national sample survey of the study showed that about a quarter of Sri Lanka’s population aged 16 -‐ 40 years are aware of online freelancing or microwork. Surprisingly, awareness of online freelancing was higher in North Central Province, Southern Province, Central Province and Sabaragamuwa Province than Western Province where the countries largest urban agglomeration and the capital is located. Males are significantly more aware of online freelancing opportunities compared to females; the younger and richer the respondent, more likely they were to be aware. 25% of the rural target population are aware of such opportunities, compared to 31% of those in urban areas. The respondents who owned a Computer or Laptop and accessed Internet were aware of online freelancing than others studied. The definition of “freelancing/ money earning jobs” used

at the study is “Usually self-‐employed, works for different companies or individuals on assignments, and usually gets

paid per assignment. Work usually includes web designing, logo design, creative writing, and accounting.

The freelancer usually works from home or another location that is unconnected to the firm/individual who is

paying for the job. ”

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2%

2%

6%

8%

13%

15%

17%

18%

18%

19%

24%

25%

26%

27%

29%

29%

35%

35%

38%

42%

42%

46%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Vanni

Balcaloa

Trincomalee

Amparai

Nuwara Eliya

Polonnaruwa

Kalutara

Monaragala

Badulla

Jaffna

Matara

Kegalle

Gampaha

Ratnapura

Colombo

Matale

Hambantota

Kandy

Galle

Punalam

Anuradhapura

Kurunegala

National Average

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Willingness to work on Microwork/online freelancing jobs

When the respondents were asked whether they are likely to get involved in such work, only 11% of the target population responded positively. 14% of males were more amenable to such work, compared to just over half as much (8%) for females. Possibly reflecting the availability of other employment opportunities in the big cities, the lowest willingness was seen in those living in urban areas. Rural residents were more keen on employment through microworking/online freelancing. But disproving our hypothesis that only those with low opportunities would be attracted to such work, when we disaggregated the data by income, those from the richest households (SEC A and B) were more willing than those from households with lower SECs. Yet this could also be a reflection of the luxury the rich have in being able to undertake non-‐permanent, “gig” work, compared to the less affluent respondents who prioritize regular income/salary due to financial constraints.

It also can be because the access to information and kowledge the high Sec personnel have due to their contacts oppose to lower Sec individuals. The youngest group was more keen than the older groups to try such work. Due to the slightly un-‐intuitive responses, we disaggregated the “willingness to do microwork/online-‐freelancing” by current employment status and skill level of the respondent. Surprisingly, the employment status didn’t seem to change willingness to do this type of work, with only a small difference seen in the responses of the two groups. But self-‐assessed skills of the respondent clearly had an impact. We looked at all those with the minimum skills (that included basic English, computer typing and data entry) required to do even the lowest-‐value added work on platforms (such as ad clicking on ads or entering data). In this group, those that had higher confidence in their skills were much more likley to express willingness to do microwork/online-‐freelancing once the concept was explained to them.

Among respondents who are willing do this work, there was a significant preference for doing so as a part time job. This was true among both employed as well as the unemployed. More women were interested in part time work online compared to men.

Awareness came through multiple channels

Most of the workers were

introduced to these platforms by friends,

family members and in some cases lecturers at

the learning place

“My friend in the boarding worked online”

“My cousin has followed a course and she has been

given the task of designing sites”

My bother is working in Upwork. I got to know

from him”

“My lecturer recommended Fiverr”

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Skill levels of Sri Lankans to work in online platforms When probed on the skills respondents have, English skills were higher among the respondents followed by computer operating skills and data operating skills. Respondents also had programming and tech skills and writing and translation skills.

Awareness, Skills and Regular Internet access are Drivers for Online Freelancing to take off We used binary logistic regression to model willingness for Freelancing. A binary logistic regression is a way of modeling the probability of an event when the event is a binary outcome. Therefore, adoption = 1 (yes) or 0 (no). Coefficient in logistic regression cannot be directly interpreted àOdds Ratio is calculated from it. • The ‘Odds’ is directly related to (but not the same as) the probability of something happening. • Odds = probability of adoption / probability of not adopting Odds ratio implies for each unit increment of the independent variable, the odds of willingness to work on freelancing changes by a percentage of (odds ratio – 1) Or more simply…Awareness, Skills and frequent Internet access are more important


-‐24.1

-‐23.8

4.5

-‐14.3

-‐4.9

-‐26.6

14.8

104.7

55.1

28.7

594

-‐23 -‐28.7

41.6

-‐100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Age of respondent (no. of years)

Primary educaoon being the highest obtained

Secondary educaoon being the highest obtained

Married

Having computer at home

Having a laptop

Frequent internet user

Having Basic or above English Skills

Having Basic or above Computer operaong Skills

Having Basic or above data entry Skills

Aware of Microwork/Freelancing

Working Status

Rural Urban Status

Gender

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Skill level of Sri Lankan youth to work online

We tried to understand the skill level of Sri Lankans to work online. When compared to other age groups, the respondents within the age of 16-‐ 23 had higher skill level compared to others. The skill level of respondents of Sec A and B was higher compared to the skill level of the respondents of Sec C D and E. Skill level of males within the age of 16-‐ 23 were slightly higher than the skill levels of females.

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Potential online freelancers of Sri Lanka: Target survey to identify awareness, willingness and skills to work in online freelancing/ microwork platforms

Target survey among potential freelancers One hundred and sixty (160) interviews were conducted covering 8 districts of Sri Lanka to identify the awareness, willingness and skills to do online freelancing among potential online workers of Sri Lanka. The characteristics of the target group were, aged 18 -‐ 30, basic knowledge of computer operating and or data entry, followed / following a course at a computer training institute, belongs to SEC C, D or E and unemployed candidates who are seeking work. Awareness on online freelancing/ micro work among the potential workers Seventy five percent (75%) of the target sample was aware on online freelancing. Out of the respondents who knew about micro work, 22% of males and 29% of females were mot willing to work in these sites. When asked why they are not willing to work on online work platforms, lack of trust on the work available and payments of these sites was the main reason (50%) for not working on these sites.

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LIRNEasia, Survey on potential of online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016,

Base: 160

Perception towards jobs and preferred types of jobs of potential workers

Perception towards jobs At a likert skale of 5, we asked Sri Lankan ptential workers statements that most discribe their preference to work. 60% of the respondents were looking at a job that suits their qualification, followed by a job that pays them well (58%). Job stability (55%), flixibility (53%) and respectability of the job (52%) was also important to Sri Lankan job seekers. Interestingly, online freelancing, working from home in platforms was a second preffered option (43%) compared to lower grade jobs after a stable office job (52%). Specially, females preferred online freelancing when explained the concept (55%)

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Online freelancing as an income source for Sri Lankan women Online freelancing is an appealing work option for women, specially housewives and stay at home mothers. By involving in online freelancing, income can be generated and they can care for children, family. 21% of Sri Lankan women were aware on online freelancing/ micro work. In terms of skill level, skills of females almost equal to the skill levels of males. The survey among potential online workers revealed that 71% of the women who are aware of online freelancing are willing to work online. The main reason underlying not willing to work online was the unreliability (45%) of these working platforms followed by lack of information on online earning methods (35%), low language skill (35%), not having a laptop (35%) and the risk attached (35%). The main reason of not starting to work online yet among the willing females to work online was the difficulty to understand how online freelancing work (60%). They also said that they have no one to guide them on this type of work (55%). When asked the preferred type of work, online freelancing was the one of the most preffered by Sri Lankan females at 60%. Kumudini, a 30-‐year-‐old mother who is involved in online freelancing shared her experience with us saying: “I work, during 1-‐ 4 am in the morning. That’s the only time I can work. I work at noon if my baby is sleeping. I mostly do logo design. I have the capacity to earn LKR 25,000 per month doing this type of work” Ganga, a 23 year old university undergraduate, shared her perception on online freelancing as below: “ I think online freelancing is good, because we don’t stay like this forever. After marriage of course comes a big responsibility, not just one now, have to think about two, have to deal with two families. My younger brother and sister are still very young so I have to think about them. Now let’s say when we have a child and when the child asks to buy him/her something, I don’t have to suffer myself for not being able to buy and give that right. Even If I meet a friend now and if she is in a good place than me, I would think on it right, why am I not as her. So this is a good method of earning for housewives and mothers?”

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LIRNEasia, Non representative survey on online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016, Base: 84

Estimation of Sri Lanka Online Freelancing Economy Quantifying online Freelancers of Sri Lanka

An estimated number of 17,000-‐ 22,000 online freelancers in Sri Lanka

A two-‐fold approach was adapted to estimate the number of online freelancers of Sri Lanka. Based on the conducted nationally representative survey, we identified 22,000 online freelancers in Sri Lanka. To further validate this, we manually calculated the registered Sri Lankans in online freelancing platforms and conducted a survey at the FreelancerSL event and asked the current workers in what platform they work in. By this, we identified 17,000 online freelancers. This method was adapted because public data was not available on registered workers in “Fiverr” online outsourcing platform. We estimated the registered freelancers in the “Fiverr” platform based on its “Alexa” ranking. “Alexa” website provides commercial web traffic data and analytics.

Based on “Alexa” ranking and the registered freelancers in other online outsourcing platforms, registered online freelancers of “Fiverr” were estimated. Therefore, based on these two approaches, our study estimates 17,000 -‐ 22,000 online freelancers in Sri Lanka. Annual growth of 44% We asked the respondents of the non representative survey at FreelancerSL 2.0 event when they got themselves registered in online freelancing platforms. 44% of the respondents registered themselves during the last year. This response was validated by Alexa rankings, where the increase use of the site was evident by the increase of the world rank in Sri Lanka in the website.

17,000-‐ 22,000 Sri Lankan freelancers are working on

online outsourcing platforms

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0 50 100 150 200 250 Average Value of Each Project in USD

Source: LIRNEasia, Non representative survey on online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016, Base: 84

Value of Online Freelancing Economy of Sri Lanka Income of online freelancers We asked the online freelancers how much they earn per month. Most of the freelancers worked online part time, and was involved in online work only two-‐ three hours a day. They said that by only working few hours per day, they earn around LKR 20,000 (USD 140) per month. The freelancers who worked full time online, earned around LKR 50,000 (USD 350) per month. A few freelancers earned more than their full time job by doing freelancing part time. There were some exceptional freelancers who earned around LKR 150,000-‐ LKR 200,000 (USD 1,000-‐ USD 1,300) per month. Most frequent project values Most frequent project value of online work was around USD 5 per project. There were freelancers who charge USD 50-‐ USD 200 per project.

Value of Freelancing Economy Based on the number of freelancers in Sri Lanka, the value of freelancing economy was calculated based on pessimistic assumptions. We assumed 40% of the online freelancers are active and that they earn a regular income. This was around 7,800 online freelancers. As the monthly average income of freelancers were USD 200, the total take home from online freelancing was calculated as below: $200 (monthly average earning)*12 (months)*7800 (online freelancers) = $18.7 Million We compared this value with the revenue of the BPO industry of Sri Lanka. Per employee contribution of online freelancing last year (2016) was USD 2,400 and the BPO industry was $10,625. As most online freelancers of Sri Lanka works part time, this industry has a huge potential to grow in Sri Lanka.

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Average Monthly Earning in USD

Revenue per year from online freelancing is $18.7 Million

Per employee contribution is $ 2,400

SLASSCOM Strategy document 2016, https://slasscom.lk/sites/default/files/SLASSCOM%20Strategy%20Document%202016.pdf

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Online freelancers in Sri Lanka Profile of Freelancers To further validate awareness and willingness to do online freelancing and to identify the nature of work, factors enabling and barriers underlying in doing online freelancing we used qualitative research methods. Successful freelancers who we identified were within the age of 22-‐28 years, predominantly males and belonged to SEC B & C. Most of the freelancers studied were go-‐getters who intended to establish themselves at any cost. They stated that they are even willing to migrate for better prospects. Freelancers lived with their parents or extended family, even though parents did not approve this kind of work. The parents of the respondents didn’t understand the nature of work involved in this sector. The parents of female respondents were against them working in this field. But once they started earning, the parents didn’t oppose freelancers working in online platforms because they supported their families financially from the earnings. When probed about the sector of employment, the online workers expected or did a job in the IT Sector while some were employed in other sectors. Most freelancers were working on

Source: LIRNEasia, Qualitative research on online freelancing in Sri Lanka, 2016

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Perception on employment prospects and doing online work is Sri Lanka Freelancers agreed that there is a skilled workforce in Sri Lanka. This was an advantage of Sri Lankans to work online. They feared that trade agreements with India will negatively effect this IT workforce in Sri Lanka. There was also an agreement that in order to get a job/ enter a profession, connections/ contacts or knowing the right people was an advantage. “We have best global firms in Sri Lanka. We have MIT and Virtusa in Lanka. MIT is registered in the London stock exchange. But I have a concern in signing the framework agreement for the broader Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India. We have a skilled IT workforce and we are trying to bring Indians here. This is a challenge to us: Nuwan, 25, Sec B, Part time online freelancer” “One of my personnel contact found me the job at the University. In Sri Lanka, if you have good contacts, you can find a job: Sampath, 26, Sec B, Part time online freelancer” Less social interaction when working online was highlighted by the respondents.

Some made use of this to interact with their friends and family (closer social circle) more whereas others didn’t do online work because of this factor. “I have a positive attitude towards online freelancing, actually, when I think more about it, a person can do the online work as a full time job as well. But it’s not my passion. So, I do online work as a part time job: Chapa, 25, Sec A, Part time online freelancer” “The best thing about online freelancing is less interaction with the society. Therefore, my mind is free than before. If I go to a job, from 8-‐5 we are under pressure. Therefore now I can spend more time with my family. I have more time to involve in activities in my locality: Lolitha, 36, Sec B, Full time online worker” Introduction to online freelancing and the reasons to be involved in online work As discussed earlier in the report, freelancers were introduced to online work by their relatives, friends, colleagues or lecturers. Then they started looking for information online and offline by using Google search, blog posts and advertisements on paper.

“I got to know about online work from Amazon Lanka paper ad. I went with my daughter and listened to it. Then I tried it out on the computer by my self. I didn't ad click for several years but I couldn’t withdraw money: Gunawardana, 48, Sec B, Part time online freelancer” “I got to know about it from a blog post. It had step by step, how everything has to be done. This blog post was done by a Sri Lankan. I got to know about Fiverr through this. I followed these steps and registered in Fiverr and added a gig: Sudesh, 28, Sec C, Part time online freelancer” Most workers registered in these platforms 2/3 years ago and some were registered within last year. “I started working in 2011. One of my friends has a Internet card in Sampath bank. He brings stuff using it. Ho told me that he just make an video and upload it, then money goes to his Paypal account and he uses his paypal to purchase stuff. Therefore, not in the motive of earning, just to buy stuff I like, I started working online: Gayantha, 23, Sec B, Part time online freelancer”

Dynamics of freelancing

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Most micro workers do online work as a secondary income source. They agreed that they are attracted to the sense of freedom attached to online freelancing. “Anyway, personally I was saving up for a computer. So I wanted to save a bit of cash so that I can get it. So my other friend has told Shea (friends name), and I called my other friend and somehow got in to it: Chapa, 25, Sec A, Part time online freelancer” “Yes, the job is fine. Even though we get a salary, we like if we can earn more. If we can achieve more, we don’t get satisfied with what we have now: Rajika, 25, Sec A, Part time micro worker”


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Skills of Sri Lankans Respondents agreed that Sri Lankans are all-‐rounders. The communication skills of Sri Lankans working in platforms were high. Most Sri Lankans were involved in graphic design, programming and technical skills. Some micro workers were involved in online marketing and research. Physical location of work and time taken per task The time taken per task depends on the type of work that online workers do. The time may vary from 10 minutes to weeks. “10-‐15 minutes: I do IT support. I earn around USD 10-‐ 15 from this type of work. To do a task it takes me around 10-‐ 15 minutes: Nuwan, 25, Sec B, Part time online freelancer” “1 ½-‐ 2 hours: I do online marketing. 1 ½-‐ 2 hours I can finish 1 5 USD project: Sudesh, 28, Sec c, Part time online freelancer” Most online freelancers do this work at night, after they go home. This is because their full time job or education needs their attention 8-‐5. Some micro workers do this work during office time, at office. They’ve found jobs that facilitate this.

Some micro workers do this work during office time, at office. They’ve found jobs that facilitate this. I work at night most of the time. I go to university and come and do this work during evenings. That’s how I do: Prabath, 25, Sec B, Part time micro worker To tell the truth, I actually don’t spent that much of an effort in to this. I do this during the free time I have. I don’t do freelancing work after 4,5 p.m. After 4, I play games. And I don’t work during the weekend as well. My income is with less effort; Rajika, 25, Sec A, IT administrator

Skills of Sri Lankans and nature of work done online

Sri Lankans work from home or office Time taken per task vary from few minutes to weeks


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Working on fake sites

There were some individuals had worked online, ad click fake sites in the hope of getting paid in the end. They did monotonous work for months so that they got paid at the end of the assigned tasks. We came across a stay at home mother who has worked online for months in a fake site in the hope of getting paid at end of the task. Her story, in her own words are below:

“We didn’t know how to withdraw the money earned online for the longest time. We tried for years to get to know a method to bring down money. I was reluctant to work in these platforms because I didn’t know a method to get my payments done. In ad click, if I created a Paypal account, they say that we can only get money after we do work worth of USD 1000. I did this and I couldn’t withdraw money. The site says that the money is withdrawn to the Paypal account. But the Paypal account doesn’t show that money. The name of this site is 2 dollar click.

The work I did in this site was ad click. Some numbers come up in the site, I have to look at the advertisement they stream, and they display a number and tell me to click on that number. When I do that, USD 1 is added. I worked on this for 6 months or 3 months. It says that USD 1000 is added to my Paypal account, but my Paypal account doesn’t show this amount. It maybe a issue with withdrawing money from Paypal. I’m not sure”


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Environment of online freelancing in Sri Lanka: Enabling factors and challenges

Few external factors and attributes of freelancers itself enabled and acted as an advantage for online freelancing in Sri Lanka. These enabling factors are as follows: Connections with offshore customers/ large customer base Successful micro workers were able to build relationships with their customers in freelancing platforms and start working with them away from the platforms. Most micro workers targeted US/ UK and Australian buyers while some micro workers worked for any buyer. Specific targeting of buyers from the Western countries was because they pay for the work done and because it was easy to work with them. “I worked for a New Zealand customer. Then he came out of Fiverr and contacted me directly and worked with him: Dhanuka, 26, Sec B, Businessman” Ability to outsource work/ Can do business based on the platform Some workers in these platforms act as the middle person, they get the job from the platform and outsource it

We came across a few emerging businesses based on these platforms, where registered rated sellers in these platforms hire others to do their work and pay them a lower rate for the work done. “I created the profile and kept. I wrote everything. I try to get the job most of the time. I get the job and give some other person to do the job: Dhanuka, 26, Sec B, Businessman” “He has a small company and he has 4 employees. He does logo design. He charges 150 dollars per logo. That is the thing with top seller. Everyone comes to him: Rajika, 25, Sec A, Part time micro worker” High earning compared to local market Most freelancers are satisfied with their income. Due to the advantage of the high rate of the dollar, their earning is higher than that of the payments in local market. “We can live from this, from working on the platform. We can earn double and triple more than they pay in Lanka”

No copyright issues except for Youtube ad sense Most micro workers used the available images and work on the Internet to deliver their jobs. This made their work easy and helped to deliver results on time. Only place where a copyright issue comes up was in Youtube. In other platforms, they used others work. Ability to convert digital money to physical money Micro workers found new methods to convert digital money to physical money. They created Paypal accounts in other countries and transferred money to their LK accounts as we paypal is not available as a service in Sri Lanka. “I use paypal. : I have created a Malaysian account. Its under my name. Its not counted. It comes unofficially, from back channels. Even for me, although I get money from a Malaysian account, sometimes commercial banks ask from me how this money came. Now its illegal, but I can get money from HNB and commercial from some loophole: Piyumi, 25, Sec A, Part time micro worker”

Enabling factors of online freelancing

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Flexible working hours Freelancers emphasized the benefits of flexible working hours as a major advantage of online freelancing. Having control over time (Work at night from home/ work during office hours/ stay at home and work), ability to avoid rush hour traffic, scheduling work among the available time were a few benefits that freelancers mentioned. No need of fluency in English The freelancers were not excellent or fluent users of English language. But they thrived in online freelancing. They said that language doesn’t influence working online. “We don’t know that much of English. But they say what they want and we communicate with them: Sudesh, 28, Sec c, Part time micro worker”

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Challenges faced by online freelancers Online work platforms are biased towards the buyer “This system is biased towards the buyer. If I didn’t deliver a good product, the buyer can cancel. If the buyer cancels, I should approve the cancellation. If we provide a good product and if he cancels it, we can contact Fiverr directly. If you are a level I seller (entry level), they don’t get back to you quickly. But if you are a level II seller (intermediate level), Fiverr will get back to you soon. And if your standards are good, they will insist the buyer to give you your money.” This is what Malith, a 25-‐year old level II seller told us at a focus group discussion among online freelancers. This is not the case with all freelancers. The freelancers who are just starting to work in these platforms say that they return money to buyers when the buyers rate them low in online work platforms. “One customer didn’t like the work I did and he gave me a low rating. This affected my overall rating. So I refunded his money. We should bear these types of losses for some time until we reach up to a certain level in platforms” said Nuwan, an 18-‐year-‐old freelancer. “We should re do the work over and over again, until the customer is satisfied.” He further added.

Power cuts handicap online freelancing “The power cuts in Sri Lanka are unannounced. It’s really difficult when we have power cuts. The customers don’t believe us when we say that we can’t deliver work on time because we have power cuts. These are people who have never experienced power cuts in their entire life” this is what Sandun, a 25 year old online worker said at a focus group conducted by LIRNEasia among online freelancers. Load shedding was identified as a barrier to work online. Working online requires self-‐discipline to deliver work on time. When the work is not delivered on time, customers give micro workers low ratings. These low ratings affect their profile and their marketability in the long term. Making the public aware about load shedding schedules is important as more and more younger people now work online and as power is a must to deliver work on time. Job security and income stability are main concerns of online freelancers “Online freelancers are not given loans from local banks. The first question the officers ask us is whether EPF/ ETF is deducted from our salary.

This is how they understand whether we have a stable job or not. They refuse to issue us loans because we don’t have a stable job. This is not the case in other countries” Says Sampath, a 25 year old freelancer in Sri Lanka. Most Sri Lankans involve themselves in online freelancing/ micro work as part time work. This is because they are reluctant to start working online full time. They are unable to prove that they have a secure job and that they can earn a steady income. The banks in Sri Lanka do not issue loans for online workers. Apart from this, freelancers are not assured that these platforms will be there in the long run. Therefore, they opt to work online part time with a day job. “The other risk of working online is, if something happens someday, if an issue arise, say its because LK regulations, or because of some other reason, you might lose everything all of a sudden. If this happens, I’ll lose my income. In this context, if I have a steady day job, with experience I can go for another job.” This is what Nuwan, a 24 year freelancer said at a focus group discussion on online work.

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Online payment modes and inward remittance PayPal inward remittance is not allowed in Sri Lanka. This was raised as a concern by some of the current freelancers we interviewed. Some freelancers used the PayPal account, the money remitted to their PayPal account based on the work they did to buy goods online as they cannot cash out this money. Some freelancers created accounts in other countries and linked it in to their Paypal accounts and transferred their money to local accounts. “I use PayPal, I have created a Malaysian account under my name. I created these accounts from Sri Lanka. There is a little trick that I used to change the IP addresses and create the account-‐ Pathum, 25, Sec A, IT administrator” Other freelancers found other payment methods suchas Payoneer, Skrill, Stripe and Netteller which enabled them to cash out the money that they earned by working on online freelancing/ micro working platforms.


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How to get the first job and advancing in platforms

The online freelancers agreed that getting the first job is the most difficult. Freelancers adapted various strategies to get the first job and start off working in these online platforms. Most of the current workers interviewed during our focus group discussions received their 1st Job within 1 ½ -‐ 2 to weeks after posting the Job. The common understanding among the freelancers was that it’s difficult to get the 1st job in Fiverr and that most people drop out due to this at the beginning.

Freelancers in online platforms explained various strategies they adapted to get the first job on Fiverr, where most Sri Lankan online freelancers work.

• Doing the first job at a loss:

“When I put a gig up, a customer approached me. I did my first job at a loss. I told the buyers if he buys a gig, ill give him another one for free. This was because I wanted to get orders. So, I kept on working with him for a month. After that I kept getting orders: Chamila, 28, Sec c, Part time freelancer

• Requesting friends to buy their first gig

“Then I did a trick. I asked my friend, to purchase several Gigs from me and give me good ratings. And I paid him back: Chaya, 25, Sec A, Part time freelancer

• Using Contacts

In Odesk, I left it as it is for 1 month without doing anything after I created the account. After 1 ½ months, I submitted all my work online and added proposals on Odesk again. By only submitting proposals, it’s hard to get work in these online platforms. I received the job from a German traveling company. I received this job through a Sri Lankan. He had seen my job post. There were 2 indians and 1 pakistan bidder with a lower cost than mine. But because I’m a Sri Lankan he gave me the job. Im still working with him away from the platform: Supun, 26 Sec B, Part time freelancer


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Most popular online freelancing platform in Sri Lanka is Fiverr, followed by Upwork and freelancer. Some tried working in micro work platforms such as Youtube and Google AdSense and ad click. Freelancers mentioned Fiverr as the most suitable platform to Sri Lanka. This was because of user friendliness and facilitates to withdraw digital money as physical money in the platform.

“I looked at other sites but FIverr is the most recommended. Its sure and guaranteed. Fiverr is famous among most people. Other sites are linked with Paypal accounts. There is no way in LK to convert digital money to physical money. Because Fiverr has a card, we can get physical money. So, Fiverr is the most suitable platform in Sri Lanka: Nuwan, 25, Sec B, Part time online freelancer” “Any platform is good for Lanka, first thing is you should be patient, then you should do the job that you receive. First thing is, if you are a beginner, you should start in Fiverr. Platform is friendly, its user interface is friendly and its easy to start and it doesn’t have standards: Rajika, 25, Sec A, Part time online freelancer”

Famous online freelancing and micro work platforms in Sri Lanka


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Online training courses in Sri Lanka (How to earn money on Internet)

There are companies and individuals in Sri Lanka that conduct training on how to earn online for a fee. Some companies charged the individuals LKR 7,500 per class per day. We did an ethnographic study where one researcher participated in a course to understand what is taught and what types of individuals participate in these courses. The main concept of this course was “how to earn money online”. The participants were of different age groups from 18-‐ 60. The target group of this course was mainly school leavers, housewives, mothers, pensioners and people looking for part time work. The participants were also the same. These companies used a rigorous marketing salary where they advertised through multiple channels such as social media, local newspapers, target phone calls, leaflets/ handouts and posters. The classes were held in population pockets in the country (Maharagama, Nugegoda, Kandy, Kurunagala cities) and the classes were in the form of mass classes (70-‐ 100 people per class). They provided a certificate upon course completion as well. We did a rough calculation on the earnings of these companies and it came to around LKR 6,300,000 per month. They provided no laptop a computers to the course participants. The class was on a lecture format. The course content was basically as below:

• What is online freelancing • How to create an account in Fiverr/ Upwork • Online payment platforms/ Pioneer card • Ad click sites, Neobux • Work that can be done online (Content writing, photoshop etc) • Guidance after the course if needed

Researcher noticed that novel individuals who are entering these type of work found this course quite interesting and informative while others more experienced, skilled workers found it a waste of time and money. These type of courses were popular in areas where there is a high awareness of online freelancing (eg: Matara, Kandy). In the areas where the awareness is low (Eg: Jaffna) we found failure stories of online earning classes.

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Way Forward: Online freelancing industry of Sri Lanka

Creating awareness on online freelancing among youth and lower sec Sri Lankans This research findings shows that there is a potential for Sri Lankan unemployed youth to involved in online freelancing. To do this, awareness has to be increased among the youth within the age of 16-‐24. Also, the message on the availability and the possibility to involve in this type of work has to be conveyed to lower sec Sri Lankans. Furthermore, Sri Lankans in North and North East provinces of Sri Lanka has to be made aware of online work and freelancing using media, target information dissemination methods and classes/ trainings and information sharing on success stories. Changing social perception on freelancing jobs Most Sri Lankans look for job security. The society does not accept the freelancers who work online. This perception has to be changed to popularize this type of work in Sri Lanka. This can be done using media to make aware the elderly community who are against their children being involved in this type of work.

Better inward payment mechanism to secure the earning of online freelancers The inability to cash out the funds transferred to the PayPal account for the work done was raised as a concern by current freelancers. Letting the current and potential freelancers know about available inward payment mechanisms to secure what they’ve earned online is important to build trust among these freelancers. This will also help and guide the freelancers on ways to withdraw money they’ve earned online. Insurance solution to reduce earning volatility Earnings of freelancers are not insured and they are not provided any security based on their earnings. This makes potential freelancers reluctant to work online and keeps current freelancers from working in these platforms full time. Innovative ideas on how to insure income from online freelancing are important to encourage freelancers to work online. This way, more freelancers will start working on these platforms.

Ways to demonstrate credit worthiness Eventhough the online freelancers earn a fair income from working online, local banks do not accept this income as a regular income source and freelancers are not given bank loans. This is raised by online freelancers as a main concern because they cannot borrow from banks showing their income from online freelancing. Eventhough they can show proof of their income, they are not seen as credit worthy individuals. Therefore, polices has to be developed to accept online freelancers as credit worthy individuals to provide them with access to credit.

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Annex 1: Methodology Research methodology (Threefold approach)

·∙ Island wide survey ·∙ Target survey ·∙ Qualitative studies (Focus group discussions and in depth interviews)

To understand available skill levels in the country, we used specific questions in a nationally representative sample survey carried out in Sri Lanka. To understand attitudes towards and experience of microwork, and to identify barriers, we conducted a series of focus gorup discussions. Details of each are presented below. For both lines of research, our target age group was the population between the ages of 16-‐40. The lower level was set at 16, as this is the age when students sit for the national Ordinary Level exam (after 10 years of schooling), after which some may go into the workforce full-‐or part-‐time. Existing literature suggest majority of the online freelance workers are young and between the age group of 18-‐28 (Kuek et al., 2014). But we wanted to understand the dynamics of such work among slightly older persons who might still have the necessary skills to participate on platforms. Therefore our upper age cut-‐off was set at 40. The upper limit was set of 40 since computer literacy, a necessary criterion for this type of work, declines with age. Quantitative Sample Survey Quantitative findings of this paper are based on a nationally representative survey of Sri lankans aged 16-‐40 (the target group of the survey). The sample size was 5500. The sample was designed to represent the target population, covering both urban and rural areas in nine provinces and 25 districts of the country with no more than ±2.5% margin of error. The respondents were selected using a multi-‐stage stratified random sampling method using probability proportional to size (PPS). The main stratification was based on the population size of the district. Within each district urban and rural centers were randomly selected. Within selected urban and rural centers, a number of starting points proportionate to that districts population was selected. Then, a fixed number of interviews was conducted around each starting point. A common place such as a road, park, or hospital was designated as the starting point. Households were selected from there using the right-‐hand rule. After a completed interview, one house was skipped in urban areas and two houses were skipped in rural areas to minimise neighborhood bias. For each household visited, a Kish-‐grid was prepared listing the names and ages of all household members within the 16 to 40 age band to randomly select a household member for the interview. If the selected member was not present, an appointment was scheduled to revisit the household when the selected member would be present. If the member was available, the survey began with the screening section. If the selected member did not meet our intended criteria, the survey was closed and the respondent information kept in the contact sheet. The interviewer then moved on to the next household on the pattern stated previously and repeated the same procedure. Fieldwork for the study was conducted in October -‐ December of 2015. The structured questionnaires were designed in English, translated to the local languages (Sinhala and Tamil) and field tested and implemented in the same.

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Qualitative research protocols The qualitative research was designed to understand people’s perceptions and attitudes towards online microwork. Six focus group discussions (FGD) and one in-‐depth interview (IDI) were carried out in the three population centers: Colombo (4), Jaffna (1) and Galle (1). Focus group discussions were conducted for two separate groups: a) potential workers (those who have some of the basic skills such as a diploma in computer science, and might be potential candidates for working on online platforms), and b) those who are currently engaged in online microwork. The screening criteria specified all participants be between the ages of 16-‐ 40. Each FGD had between 3 to 6 respondents and lasted 2.5 hours on average. The IDI was with a respondent who could not participate in a FGD, and lasted 2 hours. A total of 20 respondents were interviewed using both methods. With both types of respondents (i.e. with potential workers, and current workers), the attitudes, motivations and barriers were examined. With current workers, we also focused on the dynamics and behaviors of online workers The protocols were conducted in the two local languages (Sinhala and English) by the authors between in February -‐ April 2016, using a semi-‐structured questionnaire. The conversations were recorded with participants’ consent. The recordings were translated to English and transcribed. The authors then analyzed the English transcripts. The details of protocol participants (respondents) such as age, urban/rural location, gender, education level and experience (or lack of) microwork platforms is given in Annex 1. Given that there is no way to personally identify or contact microworkers through platforms (only their online profile/username is available, not their emails or phone numbers), and given that there is no existing listing of such workers to sample from, the research term used a combination of methods to recruit participants for focus groups, including a) posting a “job” on the platforms, promising payment for workers who fit the screening criteria and agreed to participate in the research, b) using known persons who worked on such platforms to identify others who did the same (snowballing), c) using the services of a market research firm to recruit from the field, in return for payment, d) attending “microwork training programs” provided by third parties in the country, and identifying potential recruits who attend such events.

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Annex 2: Questionnaire, quantitative survey INTRODUCTION

Good morning/ afternoon/evening!

LIRNEasia is a regional policy and regulation think tank active across Asia Pacific. We are currently conducting a survey among Sri Lankans to understand current employment and livelihood opportunities. This will take about 5 minutes of your time, please keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers. We just want to know your opinion.

Q1 ASK ALL

Were you engaged in paid employment or profitable work during last week? (SA)

Yes ..................................................................................................................................... 1 No ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Q2 ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q1

If you were employed last week, can you look at this list and mark which category most suits you? [SA]

Full-‐time (30 or more hours) 1 Part-‐time (less than 30 hours) 2 Casual, on-‐call or short-‐term contract 3 Seasonal 4 Working for others 5 Self-‐employed 6 Other (please specify) 7 Q3 ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q1.

Can you tell me what best suit to your current employment? [SA] Code (577)

Self-‐employed ................................................................................................................ 01 Petty Trader ................................................................................................................... 02 Businessmen with at least one Employee (on long term basis) under you ................... 03 Private Sector Employee -‐ Executive or below .............................................................. 04 Private Sector Employee -‐ Snr. Executive / Asst. Manager / Manager .......................... 05 Private Sector Employee -‐ Senior Manager or above .................................................... 06 Public Sector Employee -‐ Clerical or below .................................................................... 07 Public Sector Employee -‐ Admin. / Managerial Junior ................................................... 08 Public Sector Employee -‐ Admin. / Managerial Senior .................................................. 09 Professional .................................................................................................................... 10 Armed Forces / Teaching Service ................................................................................... 13 Other (specify) ............................................................................................................... 14 Q4 ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q1.

Did you have more than one job last week? [SA]

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Yes ..................................................................................................................................... 1 No ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Q5 ASK IF Q4=1

How many paid jobs did you have last week?[SA]

Two ................................................................................................................................... 1 Three ................................................................................................................................. 2 Four ................................................................................................................................... 3 More than 4 ...................................................................................................................... 4 Q6 ASK IF Q4=1

What is the reason for you to work at more than one job last week?[SA]

To meet regular household expenses ................................................................................ 1 To pay off debts ................................................................................................................. 2 To buy something special .................................................................................................. 3 To save for the future ........................................................................................................ 4 To gain experience ............................................................................................................. 5 To build up a business ....................................................................................................... 6 You enjoy the work of the second job ............................................................................... 7 Other Reason (……………………………….) ................................................................................ 8 Q7 ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q1

How many hours per week do you usually work?

On Main job ..................................................................................................................... -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ Other Secondary Jobs ...................................................................................................... -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐ Q8 ASK IF 2 CODED IN Q1

If you are unemployed, which statement best describe you? [SA]

Unpaid family worker 1 Fulltime housewife (Unpaid housework) 2 Full-‐time learning (Student) 3 Pursued job, did not receive any 4 Did not work and didn’t seek job 5 Full-‐time devotion in religion 6 Unable to work (Unhealthy/ Disabled/Maternity/Paternity) 7 Elderly (Pension/ supports/ allowance) 8 Other (please specify) 9 Q9 ASK IF 2 CODED IN Q1

Would you like to have a paying job?

Yes ..................................................................................................................................... 1 No ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Q10 ASK IF 2 CODED IN Q1

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Why aren’t you enrolled in a payed job? (Enter a maximum of 3 reasons)? [SA]

Suitable work is unavailable or hard to find 1 Lack necessary skills or qualifications 2 Own illness or disability 3 Lack of transportation modes to or from work 4 Unable to find good childcare 5 Caring for elderly relative(s) 6 Attending school 7 Prefer to stay at home with children 8 Spouse wants you to stay at home 9 Personal or family responsibilities 10 Retired 11 Gave up looking for work 12 Other (please specify) 13 Q11 ASK ALL

Are you aware about freelance work / money earning jobs through online? [SA] By freelance work we refer self-‐employed and hired to work for different companies or individuals on assignments such as web designing, logo design, creative writing, accounting

Code

Yes ..................................................................................................................................... 1 No ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Don’t Know ........................................................................................................................ 3 Q12a ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q8

Can you please tell me, were you ever involved in any freelance/ money earning work online? [SA]

Q12b ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q8 Can you please tell me, were you involved in any freelance/ money earning work online in last week? [SA]

Q12a Q12b (H1)

Ever Involved in Freelance

(H1) Involved in Freelance work

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work during last week

(R1) Yes ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1 (R2) No ...................................................................................................................................... 2 2

Q13a ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q11

There many online platforms available for you to list your online services and find contracts, Can you tell us, Which of these online platforms are you aware of? [MA]

Q13b ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q11 Can you tell us, what are the online platforms that you are ever registered with?

Q13c ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q11 Can you tell us, which online freelance/microwork platform you worked on last week? [MA]

Q13a Q13b Q13c (H1)

Aware (H1) Ever

Registered

(H1) Worked on last week

(R1) Elance ................................................................................................................................. 01 01 01 (R2) Fiverr .................................................................................................................................. 02 02 02 (R3) People per hour ................................................................................................................ 03 03 03 (R4) Odesk ................................................................................................................................ 04 04 04 (R5) Freelancer ......................................................................................................................... 05 05 05 (R6) Any other (……………………………………….) 06 06 06 (R7) I was working for independent contractor ....................................................................... 07 07 07 (R8) I do not know any ............................................................................................................. 08 08 08

Q14 ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q12b

How long have you been involved in freelancing activity? [SA] Code

0 -‐ 6 months ....................................................................................................................... 1 7 -‐ 12 months ..................................................................................................................... 2 1 -‐ 2 Years. ......................................................................................................................... 3 2 -‐ 3 Years. ......................................................................................................................... 4 3 -‐ 4 Years. ......................................................................................................................... 5 4 -‐ 5 Years. ......................................................................................................................... 6 More than five years .......................................................................................................... 7 Others (Specify) ................................................................................................................. 8 Q14 ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q12b

Can you tell us, how many hours of online freelance work were you involved in last week?

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Please mark the number of hours ……… Q15 ASK IF 1 CODED IN Q12b

Can you tell us, what is your average hourly rate for the work you carried out last week?

Average rate per hour (In USD) ......................................................................................... ………… Average rate per hour (In SLR) .......................................................................................... Refused .............................................................................................................................. 2 Q16 ASK ALL

Would you like to make a part time earning by working on an online platform? [SA]

Code

I definitely will not .......................................................................................................... 1 I probably will not ........................................................................................................... 2 I might or I might not ...................................................................................................... 3 I probably will .................................................................................................................. 4 I definitely will ................................................................................................................. 5 Q17 ASK ALL

Can you tell us, what are the barriers you have in working for such online work platforms? [SA]

Code

I do not know any information about online work ............................................................ 1 I do not have necessary skills ............................................................................................ 2 My language skills are not enough .................................................................................... 3 I do not have an active internet connection ..................................................................... 4 I do not have a laptop ........................................................................................................ 6 It is difficult to make earning in such sites ......................................................................... Other reasons ( Please specify) .......................................................................................... Q18 ASK IF 3/4/5 CODED IN Q

Can you tell us, how much is the average hourly rate you expect if you are to work for an online work platform?

Average rate per hour (In USD) ......................................................................................... ………… Average rate per hour (In SLR) .......................................................................................... ………… Don’t know / Can’t say ...................................................................................................... 2 Demographic information Q19 ASK ALL

Record respondent's gender [SA]

Male ................................................................................................................................... 1 Female ............................................................................................................................... 2

50

Q20 ASK ALL Can you please tell me your age? Age ..................................................................................................................................

Q21 ASK ALL

What is the highest exam for class/ degree that you have passed? [SA] Code

Grade 1 -‐5 ......................................................................................................................... 1 Grade 6 -‐ 10 ....................................................................................................................... 2 G.C.E.(O/L) ........................................................................................................................ 3 G.C.E (A/L) .......................................................................................................................... 4 Vocational trainings ........................................................................................................... 5 Diploma (Tertiary) ............................................................................................................. 6 Bachelor’s Degree (BSc/ BA) .............................................................................................. 7 Graduate of an institute/ post graduate diploma ............................................................ 8 Master’s/ PhD .................................................................................................................... 9 Q22a ASK ALL

Please would you show me on this card your total household monthly income? [SA]

Q22b ASK ALL, And, please would you show me on this card about how much you earn, in a month? [SA]

Q22a Q22b (H1)

Monthly Household Income

(H1) Monthl

y Persona

l Income

(R1) Less than Rs 10,000 ..................................................................................................... 01 01 (R2) Rs 10,000 -‐ Rs 20,000 .................................................................................................. 02 02 (R3) Rs 20,001 -‐ Rs 30,000 .................................................................................................. 03 03 (R4) Rs 30,001 -‐ Rs 40,000 .................................................................................................. 04 04 (R5) Rs 40,001 -‐ Rs 50,000 .................................................................................................. 05 05 (R6) Rs 50,001 -‐ Rs 60,000 .................................................................................................. 06 06 (R7) Rs 60,001 -‐ Rs 70,000 .................................................................................................. 07 07 (R8) Rs 70,001 -‐ Rs 80, 000 ................................................................................................. 08 08 (R9) Rs 80 001 -‐ Rs 90,000 .................................................................................................. 09 09 (R10) Rs 90,001 -‐ Rs 100,000 ................................................................................................ 10 10 (R11) Rs 100,001 -‐ Rs 125,000 .............................................................................................. 11 11 (R12) Rs 125,001 -‐ Rs 150, 000 ............................................................................................. 12 12 (R13) Rs 150,001 -‐ Rs 175, 000 ............................................................................................. 13 13

51

(R14) Rs 175,001 -‐ Rs 200, 000 ............................................................................................. 14 14 (R15) Rs 200,001 -‐ Rs 225, 000 ............................................................................................. 15 15 (R16) Rs 225,001 -‐ Rs 250, 000 ............................................................................................. 16 16 (R17) Rs 250,001 -‐ Rs 275, 000 ............................................................................................. 17 17 (R18) Rs 275,001 -‐ Rs 300, 000 ............................................................................................. 18 18 (R19) Above Rs 300,001 ....................................................................................................... 19 19 (R20) Refused ........................................................................................................................... 20 20 (R21) None ............................................................................................................................... 21 21

Q23 ASK ALL.

Can you please tell me which of the following do you have in your household? [MA]

Code

Car/Jeep/SUV/Double or Single Cab .................................................................................. 01 Motor Bike ......................................................................................................................... 02 Three Wheeler ................................................................................................................... 03 Van / Lorry or other business vehicle ................................................................................ 04 TV ....................................................................................................................................... 05 Refrigerator ....................................................................................................................... 06 Washing Machine .............................................................................................................. 07 LP Gas Cooker .................................................................................................................... 08 Telephone -‐ Fixed Line ....................................................................................................... 09 Cable/Dish TV Connection ................................................................................................. 10 Personal Computer / Laptop ............................................................................................. 11 Active Internet Connection ................................................................................................ 12 Q24 ASK ALL

Which of the following are you registered with? Could you please tell me how often you access/use the following types of media?[SA]

Q24a Q24a Register

ed with More than once a

day/throughout the

day

Once a day

Two times a week

Once a week

Once in two weeks

Once a

month

Less often

(R1) Facebook ............................................................................................................................ 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

(R2) Mail (Gmail/yahoo. Etc) .....................................................................................................................................

2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

(R3) LinkedIn ............................................................................................................................. 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

52

(R3) Twitter ............................................................................................................................... 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

(R3) Blog/ WordPress ................................................................................................................ 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Q25 ASK ALL

What is your ethnicity? [SA] Code

Sinhalese ........................................................................................................................ 1 Sri Lankan Moor/Muslims .............................................................................................. 2 Sri Lankan Tamil ............................................................................................................. 3 Other .............................................................................................................................. 4 Q26 ASK ALL

Can you mark the district you are currently residing? [SA] Code

Colombo 01 Gampaha 02 Kaluthara 03 Galle 04 Hambantota 05 Nuwara eliya 06 Kandy 07 Kegalle 08 Batticaloa 09 Trinco 10 Anuradhapura 11 Kurunegela 12 Puttalam 13 Ratnapura 14 Badulla 15 Monaragala 16 Ampara 17 Jaffna 18 Vavuniya 19

Q27 ASK ALL [SA]

Do you have access to internet? Code

Yes 1

No 2

Q28 ASK ALL

How do you access internet? [SA] Code

Mobile phone 1

Tablet computer 2

Desktop/laptop computer 3

53

Q29 ASK ALL Can you please provide us with you mobile number? [SA]

Code

Record mobile number 1 Refused ............................................................................................................................. 2

54

Annex 3: Focus group discussion guide (Current workers), qualitative survey

CURRENT MICROWORKER

DISCUSSION GUIDE

Mini Group Discussions

27th January 2016

Guide Sections

Topic Coverage ..................................................................................................................................................... 55

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 55 2. Warm up ............................................................................................................................................. 55 3. Education Qualification ...................................................................................................................... 55 4. Work Dynamics ................................................................................................................................... 55 5. Getting into Microwork/ freelancing work ......................................................................................... 56 6. Perception towards freelance sites .................................................................................................... 56 7. Type and Nature of work .................................................................................................................... 57 8. Understanding the preference for microwork ................................................................................... 57 9. Skills required for Microwork ............................................................................................................. 58 10. Social Recognition and Status ............................................................................................................. 58 11. Close ................................................................................................................................................... 59

55

Topic Coverage

Note: This document serves as a guide to the moderator. The discussion may not follow exactly the same flow; or questions may be asked in a different way during the actual discussion. The moderator may paraphrase and/ or change the flow of the discussion to suit the interview/ group dynamics and/ or the context/ culture where the group is held in if it better address the research objectives.

Introduction 3 minutes

Objective: To settle people, establish group parameters and meet responsibilities to respondents

• Introduction of moderator, qualitative research, purpose of the group, reassurance that no special knowledge is needed, no answers are right or wrong, answer based on feelings and impressions….

• Introduction to the topic – today we are going to talk about micro work that you are involved in

• Required discussion on recording instruments • Explain that you will need to cut off discussions to focus on the topic.

(No impoliteness intended) • This discussion will be around one and a half hours long.

Warm up 5 minutes Education

Qualification 10 minutes Work Dynamics

Objective: Icebreaker and to understand the respondents’ demographics. Could you please tell me a little about yourself before we start…?

• What is your name? • How old are you? • Where are you coming from? • Family size? What do your family members do? • What kind of support do you get from your parents?

a. On your education b. On your Job

Objective: To understand respondents educational background and their current commitments

• What are you currently studying / what is your highest level of education?

• What have you studied? • Technical qualifications you have (if any)

a. Why did you select this field to study? b. Are you aware of opportunities on this field?

• What kind of jobs are you looking for after completing your studies? • What do you think about job prospects in Sri Lanka • Where would you like to work? (Local /foreign)? why?

Objective: To Understand the respondents work dynamics

56

10 minutes Getting into

Microwork/ freelancing work

10 minutes

Perception towards

freelance sites 15 minutes

• Are you currently working? (Yes / No ) • If yes? (MODERATOR TO ASK DETIALS OF WORK PERFORMED BY

EVERYONE) a. Is it a full time job b. Where do you work? c. What type of work is? d. How long were you working? e. How many hours do you work on this type of work? f. How much is your income from involving in these activities? g. How does the system work?

Objective: To understand how they started doing microwork / freelance work

• Do you know what is meant by microwork/ freelancing? • IF THEY DON’T KNOW, MODERATOR TO EXPLAIN FREELANCE WORKS

By freelance work we refer to situations where a person is usually self-‐employed, works for different companies or individuals on assignments, and usually gets paid per assignment. Work usually includes web designing, logo design, creative writing, and accounting. The freelancer usually works from home or another location that is unconnected to the firm/individual who is paying for the job.

• How did you get to know about this work? • Do you call freelance/ micro work a different name? If so, what is it? • Who told you about freelance/ micro work? • When did you get to know about this type of work? PROBE for time, 6

month back , two year back • What did they tell you?

a. Earning potential of freelance work b. Ability to learn c. New contacts

• What are the other details you checked with the person who told you about this?

• How did these details influence you? Was it positive or negative? • What did you do with these information that you gathered? • What was your first job?

Objective: Understanding the general perception towards each freelancing cites

• What are the freelancing sites you have ever registered? • What are the sites that you are currently working on? • Can you tell me more about your understanding on freelance sites,

MODERATOR to PROBE on each freelance site? IF THEY DON’T KNOW, MODERATOR TO PROBE ON FOLLOWING SITE

• FIVERR

57

Type and Nature of work

10 minutes

Understanding the preference for micro work

10 minutes

• ELANCE • FREELANCER • What is special about “………………” mention the freelance sites one by

one? • Ask how each site different from other?

a. FIVERR vs ELANCE b. FIVERR vs PEOPLE PER HOUR

• Why do you think they are different? • What factors do you think make them different? • Which sites do you prefer? • What made you choose these platforms over the other available

platforms? • What are the specific skills you use from the mentioned skills that you

have? • What is your most used skill in these platforms? • Which platform do you think will most suit Sri Lankans? Why do you

think so? Objective: Exploring the nature of Work in Microwork platforms

• How many hours a day do you work in micro work platforms? • Does it vary throughout the day and the month? • Is there a pattern involved during the week? • Is your micro work seasonal?

a. If so, what are the days that you work the most? • If there is more work available for you to do in these platforms, will

you engage in these platforms?

Objective: Understand general preference to work for freelance / microwork site

• Do you like to work on a microwork / freelance platforms? (Yes / No) a. If yes,

i. How is your experience? ii. Do you like to work continuously iii. What factors influenced you to continue working in

these platforms? iv. Are you satisfied with your performance level in these

platforms?

b. In No, i. Can you tell us why you did not like ii. What are the barriers,

1. Why do you say so? iii. Challenges that you foreseeon working on these

58

platforms? • Are your friends working on these platforms? • What is their opinion? Are they happy? • Are people afraid of working on these platforms? If so, why do you

think so? • Do you think people are being exploited? Do you know any such

incident?

Objective: To Understand Pay Structure and Return • What is the pay attached in these platforms? Or do you and your

friends work only for self-‐satisfaction? • Are you satisfied with the pay you receive by working on these

platforms? • Is the pay you receive by working on these platforms higher than the

pay you receive from working on any some other place (full time)? • Can earn more from micro work than your full time job, will you give

up on your full time job?

Skills required for Microwork 10-‐ 15 minutes

Social Recognition

and Status Expected timing 10 minutes

Objectives: To understand the Skills levels of respondents • What are the specific skills you have (Probe if they say about ICT skills) • From where and how did you gather these skills? • If self-‐taught-‐ what motivated you to study and explore this specific

area? • How did you teach yourself these skills? By online manuals, you tube,

etc. • Did you study in a technical college/ university that contributed to th

development of your special competencies? • Do you have friends who have the same competencies that you have? • How did they obtain their knowledge, skills and attitudes? • How do you utilize these skills? • What made you use your competencies to earn an income? • Do you only do specific tasks that you like? Or do you do any task that

you can do in these platforms? • If you are given an opportunity, will you improve your skills on micro

work? Are you willing to learn more skills?

Objective: To understand the social status and recognition of doing micro work

• What is your feeling when you say you are a freelance worker? • Are you happy to tell that to your friend and relatives?

§ Do they understand? § What is their initial response? Positive or Negative? § Do they see you as employed or unemployed?

59

§ Do they sympathies/ empathies? § How does your family sees you? Are they happy with your

work? § What do they say?

• Do you work from home? Yes / No § If yes, how do your family members feel? § Do you go and work in an outside location?

• Do you fill socially excluded/ depressed by doing micro work? Or do you feel more included/ happy/ content? PROBE : Why do you say so?

• Has your recognition in the society increased/ decreased by working in micro Work platforms? PROBE : Why you are saying so?

• Has your self esteem/ dignity increased/ decreased after you started doing micro work? If so, in what way?

• Have you made new friends/ connections in Sri Lanka and abroad by doing micro Work?

• Have you made connections with your online employees? • Have the same employer given you several jobs? • Have they recommended you to other people/ employers/ jobs? • Has anyone followed your path and started doing micro work? • What was the change in your living standard after you started doing

micro work? Close

• Thank people for their contribution • Give gifts • Ask for any final comments / thoughts

60

Annex 4: Focus group discussion guide (Potential workers), qualitative survey POTENTIAL MICROWORKER

DISCUSSION GUIDE

Mini Group Discussions

12th October, 2015

Guide Sections

1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 61 2. Warm up ............................................................................................................................. 61 3. Understanding the future aspiration ...................................................................................... 61 4. Understanding their life, need for money and their motives .................................................... 61 5. Awareness of microwork/ freelancing .................................................................................... 62 6. Willingness to work on freelancing ........................................................................................ 63 7. Perception towards each freelance sites ................................................................................ 63 8. Perceptions about freelancer ................................................................................................ 64 9. Close .................................................................................................................................. 64

61

Topic Coverage

Note: This document serves as a guide to the moderator. The discussion may not follow in exactly the same flow; or questions may be asked in a different way during the actual discussion. The moderator may paraphrase and/ or change the flow of the discussion to suit the interview/ group dynamics and/ or the context/ culture where the group is held in if it better addresses the research objectives.

Introduction

Expected timing:

3 minutes

Objectives: Settling people, establish group parameters, meet our responsibilities to

respondents

• Introduction of moderator, qualitative research, purpose of the group, reassurance that no special knowledge is needed, no answers are right or wrong, answer based on feelings and impressions….

• Introduce the topic – today we are going to be talking about your interest on online microwork or freelancing

• Required discussion on recording instruments • Explain that you will sometimes need to cut off discussions to focus on the topic. (No

impoliteness intended) • This group will be around 2 hours long.

Warm up

Expected timing

10 minutes

Objectives: Ice breaker and understanding the respondents’ demographics.

Could you please tell me a little about yourself before we start…

§ Name § How old are you § What are you currently doing § Family size and members at home/what do they do § Leisure time activities § What are you currently studying

Understanding the

future aspiration

Expected timing

10 minutes

Objectives: Understanding their future aspiration.

§ What they want to do in future § What kind of job expected to do? § What they think about job prospects in Sri Lanka § Where they like to work? (local /foreign) § What companies they prefer to work? Why? § How much do you think, you can earn after completing this studies § Do you think about getting job, it is easy to apply, with your qualification is there any

scope?

Understanding their

life, need for

money and their

motives

Objective: Understand about their priorities In life, need for money and plans to manage

day to day requirements

• How do you manage your day to day expenses? • How many of you are working?

ASK THOSE ARE WORKING

62

Expected timing

15 minutes

• Why you are working while doing studies? ask reasons ASK THOSE ARE NOT WORKING

• Why you are not started working? ACTIVITY (MODERATOR TO WRITE DOWN ALL THE REASONS WHICH COMES OUT SPONTANEOUSLY IN A SHEET)

• Can you tell me , if I ask you why you want to work , what would be your response o Status o Better life o To earn more o PROBE FOR MORE REASONS

• Are you looking for a part-‐time or fulltime job? • Do they engage in work?

o Can you tell us why you prefer Full time o Can you tell us why you prefer full time job

• Talking about part-‐time money earning jobs o Tell me the options you have

§ WAIT FOR THEIR RESPONSE, IF THEY NOT COME UP WITH OPTION, § MENTION FOLLOWING

• Writing / Journalism • Tuition • Buy and selling business • Technology stuffs

§ PROBE FOR MORE § Discuss the reason pros / cons of options they mention in brief.

o Have you involved/aware of in any money earning jobs online? o What are they? LIST ALL OPTIONS THEY KNOW , CHECK FREELANCING IS

SPONTENUESLY MENTIONED o IF RESPONDENTS NOT COMING WITH ANSWERS, MODERATOR TO

MENTION FOLLOWING § Freelancing § Online buying and selling ( ecommerce) § Online tutoring § PROBE FOR MORE

o Discuss the pros and cons of each online jobs they mentioned in brief

Awareness of

microwork/

freelancing

Expected timing

15 minutes

Objectives: Awareness on freelancing or microwork • Do you know what is meant by microwork? • Do you know how it works? • IF THEY DON’T KNOW, MODERATOR TO EXPLAIN FREELANCE WORKS

By freelance work we refer to situations where a person is usually self-‐employed, works for different companies or individuals on assignments, and usually gets paid per assignment. Work usually includes web designing, logo design, creative writing, and accounting. The freelancer usually works from home or another location that is unconnected to the firm/individual who is paying for the job. • How do they get to know about this? • Do you call it in a different name? If so what it is? • Who told you about this? • When do you get to know about this, PROBE for time, 6 month back , two year

back • What they told you?

a. Their earning potential

63

b. Ability to learn c. New contacts

• What other detail you check with the person who told you about this • How those influenced you? Positive or Negative • What you did with those information you gathered afterwards

Willingness to work

on freelancing

Expected timing:

25 Minutes

Objective: Understand general / overall preference of to work for freelance / microwork

site

• Do you like to work on a microwork / freelance platform? (Yes / No) o If yes,

§ How was your experience? § Do you know how to register? § What is the services you would like to provide? § How do you identify your strength § Do you know how it work? § How do you get the payments? § What factors influenced you to start working there

o In No, § Why they haven’t started working? § What are the barriers, why you say so ? § Challenges in you foresee working for such platform § What factor which would enable you to consider working for such

platforms • Training • Information on how do • Getting initial contact

Perception towards

each freelance

sites

Expected timing:

15 minutes

Objective: Understanding the general perception towards each freelancing cites

• Can you tell me more about your understanding on freelance sites, MODERATOR to PROBE on each freelance site? IF THEY DON’T KNOW, MODERATOR TO PROBE ON FOLLOWING SITE

• FIVERR • ELANCE • FREELANCER

• What is special about “………………” mention the freelance sites one by one? • Ask how each site different from other?

a. FIVERR vs ELANCE b. FIVERR vs PEOPLE PER HOUR

• Why do you think they are different? • What factors do you think make them different? • Which sites do you prefer? • Can you tell us why you prefer that “………..” site over the other?

64

Perceptions about

freelancer

Expected timing:

10 minutes

Objective: Understanding the perception of freelancer or microworkers?

• Can you tell us, do you know any freelancers or micro workers? • What they do? How they started? • How successful they are? • What else you know about them • How do you see them? • How they are different from your other friends, MODERATOR to probe on following

a. Do you see them as employed or unemployed b. How do you see their social status? Do they have respect? c. Do you think they are happy with their job?

• Will you recommend freelance to someone else? If so why?

Close

• Thank people for their contribution

• Give gifts

• Ask for any final comments / thoughts

)

65

Documents

*Draft report Helani Galpaya, Suthaharan Perampalam