Going with the theme “Bringing the Future of Work Opportunities to the Countryside Through Rural Impact Sourcing,” the recent Philippine Impact Sourcing Conference or PISCON 2018 spearheaded by the Department of Information and Communications Technology discussed the future of work in the Philippines, particularly the continuous growth of the local online job market and its impact on the Philippine economy in the coming years.
DICT Undersecretary Mon Ibrahim highlighted the potential of online freelancing to make economic and social change, saying that there needs to be more initiatives like the Rural Impact Sourcing program to promote it.
“We have over 1.5 million online freelancers in the Philippines. If each freelancer were earning, let’s say, around five thousand pesos per month, then we’re talking about several billions of pesos circulating in the economy per month,” Ibrahim said.
“I see that as something that is not just beneficial to the Philippine economy. Online jobs also make a direct positive impact on the lives of Filipinos, where there can always be food on the table and money to spend for ensuring the needs of everyone in the family are met,” he added.
PISCON is an annual event organized by the DICT and supported by the Digital Career Advocates of the Philippines and the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines. The annual event gathers stakeholders from all over the country and engages them in discussions about the RIS program, the aim of which is to help Filipinos in rural areas embrace technology as a source of livelihood.
EON for online freelancers
One of the biggest sponsors of the event is Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) through EON. A large number of online freelancers have been using EON to receive the income they get for the work they render.
Prospective freelancers cannot start a freelancing career without having an account. It’s one of the basic things that every freelancer must have, but the problem is that it is so hard to get one – they would need to go to a bank branch and fork out an opening deposit. The good thing is that getting an account is now as easy as buying soda at a convenience store.
To get an EON account, all one has to do is buy an EON Starter Kit at a convenience store like 7-11 and MiniStop or order from Lazada. What’s more, no minimum balance is required to maintain the EON account. With the EON account, online freelancers can move money, pay bills, and buy stuff using the EON app – the first in Asia to offer “selfie banking”.
To learn more about EON, visit its website atwww.eonbankph.com.
