Payoneer’s 2022 Global Freelancer Income Report has revealed that Indian women freelancers have benefited from the surge in demand and increased pay in 2022. The report highlights that the income of Indian women freelancers have seen an average growth of 42 per cent in 2022 as compared to 2020. During the pandemic, with companies keen on hiring gig workers with diverse backgrounds and skillsets, the hourly average earnings that were at $14 per hour in 2020 has increased to $22 per hour in 2022, the report said.
According to the report, this new pay scale of $22 per hour has put Indian women freelancers at par with the global competitors in terms of income. The new combined average of men and women is now at $26 per hour which was previously at $21 in the year 2020. The global acceptability of Indian freelancers definitely brings in good news for the future.
A very important optimistic finding from Payoneer’s report is that women participation in the freelance workforce is continuing to gain momentum and the gender gap in terms of pay for freelance work has witnessed significant improvement in recent years. Women in 2022 are earning $22 per hour as compared to men who are at $27 per hour. This gap was 77 per cent before the pandemic, the report added.