With the rapid progress of technology, it seems that many people, especially young people, have turned to the “online” job market, considering themselves masters of their own work.

R.Z, an architect by profession, together with her colleague V. B, have been working as “freelancers” for a year, offering their services to foreign clients on online platforms. Furnishing a hotel in Germany is the biggest project they have undertaken.

Beyond flexible hours, good payments are some of the reasons that lead these young people to offer their services on platforms where businesses connect with freelancers all over the world, for small or long-term jobs and projects.

The Covid-19 pandemic turned into a major source for online employment beyond a fixed 8-hour job. A regional report by “Gigmetar” showed that in October last year, over 6,200 Albanians were employed online. Albania was ranked second after North Macedonia, in 8 countries of the region for the number of online employees in relation to the population.

While it seems like an easy procedure to sign up and earn money, do the benefits of online jobs take time to reach satisfactory payouts?

“Normally, we encountered some difficulties at the beginning. Many applications, almost 80%, were negative, but we kept going until we got the first projects”, says R. Z.

The report shows that Albania recorded the largest increase in employment on these platforms in 2022. While in other countries these employees are taxed, in Albania are young people willing to pay taxes for this type of work?

V.B answers: “We are taxed in a certain way. If you do a job, the platform itself keeps 10-20% depending on the project. “Calculating the tax for the state, my profit will decrease a lot.”

Linkedin, Upwork, Guru and Fiver are some of the most widespread platforms for “freelancers” who do not require degrees, but practical knowledge.