Vietnam: Freelancing grows increasingly popular among professionals

Vietnam’s gig economy is expanding as more professionals choose freelance work over full-time employment.

Because of Covid, several employees began working remotely for the first time over a year ago, and they had a terrible time with it. Now they find working from home “paradise on earth.”

Now they can wake up at 8 AM every day, eats breakfast and drinks coffee before sitting down at the desk to start working at 9:30 or 10 AM.

At first some of the professionals just planned to work as freelancer for a few months so that they could take care of their personal or family concerns before deciding to make it permanent when they realized that they was generating more money and having more control over their schedule.

People like them, who work for themselves and do not have contracts, highlight how freelancing is growing more popular in Vietnam. This habit started several years ago, but really took off when the Covid-19 pandemic occurred.

Amid the pandemic, many enterprises shifted to remote working, and workers discovered all of a sudden that remote work and flexible hours were what they had been yearning for for a long time.

A comprehensive survey done earlier this year by recruitment and human resources company Anphabe indicated that more and more people are transferring from full-time jobs to freelance work.

Experts in Vietnam are increasingly predicting an increase in remote work, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic, when many people adapted to or found the value of “WFH”.

“This shift is favorable for economic growth and does not impact the structure of the labor market.”

However, experts encourage workers to be wary while deciding to become freelancers.

“To prevent working for a few months and then going back to the office, people should carefully evaluate the possibilities of their work and their strengths,” they advise.