Online Crowdsourcing Job Marketplace Freelancer Unveils Indian Edition

Australia-based Freelancer Technology Pty which runs outsourcing and crowdsourcing online marketplace Freelancer.com, has launched its Indian edition Freelancer.in.

Indian users can already use the global site and over 1.2 million of its 3 million plus global users come from India. The Indian site enables employers to hire locally and makes payments easier because freelancers can withdraw their funds directly to their local bank account, using Express Withdrawals. India is the first country to offer Express Withdrawals.

Freelancer. has opened its office in India and is in the process of hiring a country manager soon. The portal also hopes to create more local jobs and might initiate the use of local languages in the near future.

Taking to Techcircle.in, Matt Barrie, chief executive officer, Freelancer.com said, "India forms a significant portion of our user base and with many of our employers choosing to hire Indian freelancers above others, it was apparent that we provide a more personalised approach to the Indian market."

With the launch of the Indian edition, the firm is now aiming to grow the local user base to 2 million by end of 2012.

The job sourcing portal is designed on the lines of eBay. Just as eBay let individuals and businesses post goods for sale, in Freelance.in, interested users can post projects, tasks and jobs for users around the world to do it for a payment. The website's users outsource and work on tasks in 470 fields such as IT, writing, design, media, architecture, business, accounting, engineering and science.

India is also moving rapidly up the ranks of employers on site. To date, over 127,000 jobs have been posted by employers in India, representing 9 per cent of the 1.4 million projects posted on site. Among employers, India now ranks third, after the US and the UK.

The company shared that Indian workers excel at programming in PHP, website design, graphic design, SEO, data entry and copywriting. Indian freelancers are hired most often by employers in the United States followed by UK, India, Australia and Canada. Indian employers, in turn, most often hire other Indians followed by Americans, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Filipino freelancers to work for them.

The revenue model is designed on a commission basis with the firm pocketing 3 per cent from the employers and 10 per cent of the total money earned from the freelancers.

The registration is free but one can opt for the premium service by becoming a Gold member for Rs 1,250 per month. The company says these members win 56 per cent of projects and they pay less commissions (employers do not pay anything while Freelancers pay 3 per cent) and rank higher in listings.

According to Barrie, "In the near future we might look for partnerships with local job portals in India."

The self-funded eight year old company is growing at a rate of 85 per year on year. "And we have no plans to raise money ever," said Barrie.

Freelancer is one among many such global online sites offering such micro temping work. Others include names like Odesk, Elance, Guru.com and VWorker.