Freelance in Algeria: Challenges and Opportunities, a presentation of a talk delivered at the Job Days organized by AVMF Laboratory of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Constantine 3

1. C H A L L E N G E S A N D O P P O R T U N I T I E S
FREELANCE

2. YASSER
ABDESSELAM
Marketing & Communication Training Consultant
Digital Marketing Training Consultant @ ISGP Algiers
Techstars Representation & Facilitator
Founder of Inkless Digital & Colivri App
Formerly Freelance Graphic Designer (2007-2019)

3. H I S T O R Y R E C A L L
When freelance first came into English in the early
1800s, it was used to refer to a medieval mercenary
who would fight for whichever nation or person paid
them the most. Our earliest written evidence for this
use is in Sir Walter Scott's novel, Ivanhoe, where a
feudal lord refers to the paid army he's assembled:
I offered Richard the service of my Free
Lances, and he refused them—I will lead
them to Hull, seize on shipping, and embark
for Flanders; thanks to the bustling times, a
man of action will always find employment.

4. C O M P O S I T I O N
Free Lances
Independent Weapons

5. Freelance is doing particular pieces of work for different
organizations, rather than working all the time for a
single organization.
– Cambridge Dictionary
A Freelancer is a person who pursues a profession
without a long-term commitment to any one employer.
A Freelancer is a person who acts independently
without being affiliated with or authorized by an
organization.
- Merriam Webster’s Dictionary
D E F I N I T I O N S

6. STATISTICS
O F G L O B A L F R E E L A N C E G R O W T H

7. 1,2 Billion
Is the estimated number of freelancers in the world
59 Million
In the U.S.A, ranked first in the world with a revenue of 234 Billion USD
54% of Workers
At Google are Freelancers (120,000). Only 46% are paid employees (102,000)
+100% Growth
In work/jobs done by freelancers is expected in the next 10 years.
25% of the Time
Spent by freelancers is in prospection, research and marketing.

8. 50% of Freelancers
Are from the new Generation (GEN-Z)
31% of Freelancers
Report earning more than 75,000 USD/yearly
494 Million USD
Will be generated by UpWork alone in 2021
455 Billion USD
Is expected to be generated by the global freelance market in 2023
54th Worldwide
Is Algeria’s Rank by number of freelancers (est. +36,000)

9. INDIA
UNITED STATES PHILIPPINES PAKISTAN BANGLADESH
EGYPT
UNITED KINGDOM UKRAINE CANADA
RUSSIA
TOP 10
COUNTRIES

10. TYPES OF
FREELANCE
I N T H E F R E E L A N C E M A R K E T

11. O P E N C O N T R A C T S
Open contracts are the best option when it comes to
freelance. They are negotiated one on one and they grant
long term work. They are the closest to a regular paying
job without the hassle of waking up in the morning.
Upside
Payment is negotiable
Long term work and revenue
Highly paid
Downside
Very hard to come by
Made for highly experienced individuals
Strict deadlines

12. S U B M I S S I O N
C O N T E S T S
Contest-based freelance is somewhat the worst of all
types. In this type, freelancers are required to submit work
as part of a contest that they may or may not win at the
end. There are two types of contests: Open and Blind.
Upside
Good for beginners
Wide range of payments.
Abundance of contests
Downside
Highly competitive
Easily copiable when open
Highly risky compensation-wise

13. Unlike submission based-contests, the bidding
contests only require freelancers to make an offer
on an hourly rate. However, skill demonstration is
required.
Upside
No work required before contract
Suitable for mid-level freelancers
Sustainable with experience
Downside
Highly competitive
Ruined by freelance agencies
Take a lot of preparation
B I D D I N G
C O N T E S T S

14. F I X E D R A T E S
Fixed rate contracts are a fusion between open
contracts, bidding contests and passive income. In
this type, freelancers offer a fixed rate to accomplish
a certain task or project for the client.
Upside
Freelancers control the price
Can extend into open contracts
Freelancers have unlimited offers
Downside
Highly competitive
Require demonstration of skill
Hard to come by

15. P A S S I V E I N C O M E
What is meant by “Passive” in the passive income is
the automation of sales operations. It is not to be
confused with “DOING NOTHING”. In this model,
freelancers are supposed to prepare pre-made and
editable templates to be posted on a marketplace
for sales.
Upside
Sales are automated
On product for multiple clients
Freelancers have unlimited offers
Downside
Highly competitive
Require demonstration of skill
Hard to come by

16. BEST
PLATFORMS
I N T H E F R E E L A N C E M A R K E T

17. F R E E L A N C E R
Freelancer is an Australian freelance marketplace
website, which allows potential employers to post
jobs that freelancers can then bid to complete.
Type: Bidding Contests
Users: 56 Million
Link: www.freelancer.com

18. U P W O R K
Upwork, formerly Elance-oDesk, is an American freelancing platform.
In 2015, the Elance-oDesk merger was rebranded as Upwork and the
company's full name is now Upwork Global Inc. Upwork is currently
based in Santa Clara and San Francisco, California.
Type: Fixed Rates, Bidding Contests, Open Contracts
Users: 18 Million
Link: www.upwork.com

19. 9 9 D E S I G N S
99designs is a Melbourne, Australia, based company that operates
a freelancer platform for connecting graphic designers and clients.
The company was founded in 2008, and has a United States office
in Oakland, California.
Type: Submission Contests
Users: 450,000
Link: www.99designs.com

20. F I V E R R
Fiverr is an Israeli online marketplace for freelance services. The
company provides a platform for freelancers to offer services to
customers worldwide. Fiverr serves to allow listing and applying
for small one-off jobs, or gigs, online.
Type: Small jobs, fixed rates
Users: 830,000
Link: www.fiverr.com

21. K H A M S A T
Khamsat.com is online marketplace for digital services
targeting the Middle East and North Africa. Khamsat.com
is owned and operated by Hsoub: http://www.hsoub.com.
Type: Small jobs, fixed rates
Users: Undisclosed
Link: www.khamsat.com

22. T O P T A L
Toptal is a global remote company that provides a freelancing
platform, connecting businesses with software engineers, designers,
finance experts, product managers, and project managers. The
company has no headquarters.
Type: Open Contracts
Users: 10.000
Link: www.toptal.com

23. F L E X J O B S
FlexJobs is a subscription service that's focused on
telecommuting jobs, including freelance, flexible
and part-time opportunities.
Type: Open Contracts, Remote Jobs
Users: 4 Million
Link: www.flexjobs.com

24. P E O P L E P E R H O U R
PeoplePerHour, legally People Per Hour Limited, is a UK-
based company whose function is as an online platform
giving businesses access to freelance workers.
Type: Bidding, Open Contracts
Users: 1,5 Million
Link: www.peopleperhour.com

25. M O S T A Q L
Mostaql is a website for freelancers which aims to connect
companies and project owners with the best professional
freelancers to help them implement their ideas and projects.
Type: Bidding Contests
Users: 1 Million
Link: www.mostaql.com

26. E N V A T O M A R K E T
Envato is the leading marketplace for creative
assets and creative people to sell their digital
assets.
Type: Marketplace, Passive Income
Users: 10 Million
Link: www.envato.com

27. C R E A T I V E M A R K E T
Creative Market is an online marketplace for community-
generated design assets. The company sells graphics,
WordPress themes, stock photography, and other digital goods
for use by web creatives.
Type: Marketplace, Passive Income
Users: 1 million
Link: www.creativemarket.com

28. F R E E H A L I
Freehali.com is a web platform that allows service seekers to
entrust their needs to qualified Algerian freelancers. And that,
in a secure, reliable and above all economical way.
Type: Bidding Contests
Users: Undisclosed
Link: www.freehali.com

29. F R E E W O R K D Z
FreeWork is a platform that allows you to work online
in Algeria and increase your income by selling your
services on the site, regardless of the field.
Type: Fixed Rates, Bidding
Users: Undisclosed
Link: www.freeworkdz.com

30. D Z L A N C E
DzLance is a web platform for freelance work in
Algeria launched by an Algerian developer in
Québec, Canada in 2015 .
Type: Open Contracts, Matching
Users: Undisclosed
Link: www.dzlance.com

31. TOP RATED
JOBS
I N T H E F R E E L A N C E M A R K E T

32. T
O
P
1
0
F
R
E
E
L
A
N
C
E
J
O
B
S
BLOCKCHAIN TENSORFLOW DYNAMODB
ART DIRECTION CONTENT STRATEGY COMPUTER VISION
VOICE OVER SUBTITLING
POWER BI AUGMENTED REALITY
T O P 1 0 F R E E L A N C E J O B S

33. T O P 1 0 N O N - I T F R E E L A N C E J O B S
VOICE OVER SUBTITLING ART DIRECTION
MEDIA BUYING MOTION DESIGN VIDEO EDITING
CONTENT STRATEGY TRANSLATION
GRAPHIC DESIGN ACTING

34. CHALLENGES
I N T H E F R E E L A N C E M A R K E T

35. L E G A L S T A T U S
The Algerian legal system does not recognize a freelancer
as a legal entity, rending all their business activity with
companies requiring invoicing an impossibility.
The only solution so far goes against the very concept of
freelance, which is the creation of a business register and
acting as a company, which is not the case.

36. P A Y M E N T
Considering the first point, local payment would not be
possible for the problem would be the legal justification of
expenses by companies. The international payment, on the
other hand, entirely depends on the banking system that
does not allow importing and using foreign currency in its
nature locally.

37. S T A B I L I T Y
Algerians are not only built inside a social environment that
expresses the necessity of finding jobs, especially for state-
owned or public companies, but also promotes stability as a
matter of life or death.
A freelancer, considering the fact that they are not paid
regularly, are out of the supposed social comfort zone, with no
retirement plan, no social security and stable income.

38. A V A I L A B I L I T Y
The freelance market, with all the previously
mentioned numbers of freelancers, and although
there is an abundance in the projects dedicated to
freelancers, most companies prefer experienced
freelancers with validated portfolios.
Access to projects for entry level freelancers is
generally scarce, mostly depending on the field of
their intervention.

39. C O M P E T I T I O N
INDIANS

40. I N T H E F R E E L A N C E M A R K E T
OPPORTUNITIES

41. R I S E O F D E M A N D
Freelance job openings have surged in
the last two years with a raise of +25%
due to the obligations imposed by the
global pandemic.

42. A C C E S S I B L E L E A R N I N G
From Youtube to Coursera to Udemy to
Linked In Learning to Edx to Edraak to
even the local e-learning platforms.
Learning is abundant. You have no
excuses.

43. S O L O P R E N E U R S T A T U S
Announced by the Delegate Minister
of Startups and Economy of
Knowledge on a recent Club House
meetup, the Solopreneur status will
be officially announced during the
upcoming year.

44. D O M I C I L I A T I O N
E X E M P T I O N
Announced by the Algerian Central
Bank in June 2021, any exported
invoiced work can be directly
compensated by the foreign client
without the hassle of going through
export procedures. You can get up to
20% of your money in foreign
currency.

45. A V A I L A B I L I T Y O F
P A Y M E N T M E T H O D S
Both local and international
payment platforms are at your
disposal for all types of sales and
exchange operations. We used to
only have WESTERN UNION &
CCP TRANSFERS.

46. PAYSERA CASH APP SKRILL
CIB DAHABIA BANXY
PAYONEER N26
BARIDI MOB

47. C O W O R K I N G
S P A C E S
Can’t concentrate at home? No
problem! Coworking spaces are
made for this. A work environment
without a boss to tell you what to do
for the price of a breakfast a day.

48. N O - R E N T
C O D E ( 6 0 7 0 7 4 )
EVEN BETTER! Don’t want to pay
rent? Go for this code at the CNRC
and you will have a register in your
name as a company using only
your residence address.

49. O F T H E F R E E L A N C E M A R K E T
CONCLUSION

50. I N C O N C L U S I O N
Freelance is just as hard as regular paying full time jobs, maybe even harder. However, It works
the way you want at the pace you want for as long as you want.
Stop thinking, start acting:
If you have the skill and you want to start, START WORKING NOW.
If you don’t have any sellable skill, START LEARNING NOW.
If you don’t know where to start, C’MON! YOUTUBE …
If you want a regular paying job, START FREELANCING AND BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO NOW!

51. B E C A U S E T H E S E P E O P L E

52. B E C A U S E T H E S E P E O P L E

53. B E C A U S E T H E S E P E O P L E

54. B E C A U S E T H E S E P E O P L E

55. B E C A U S E T H E S E P E O P L E

56. B E C A U S E T H E S E P E O P L E
DID NOT WAIT TO START
AND 4250 OTHERS
ON UPWORK ALONE!

57. F O R Y O U R A T T E N T I O N
THANKS
abdesselamyasser@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/yasserabdesselam
facebook.com/yasser.t.e.abdesselam
Find this presentation on Slideshare

58. S O U R C E S
https://www.statista.com/statistics/921593/gig-economy-number-of-freelancers-us/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/530909/sources-for-freelancers-to-find-work-us/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/531012/freelancers-by-age-us/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/685468/amount-of-people-freelancing-us/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/531018/education-of-freelancers-us/
https://www.slideshare.net/upwork/freelancing-in-america-2017/1
https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/360024801733-Job-Categories-and-Descriptions
https://www.statista.com/statistics/530887/top-ten-reasons-for-freelance-work-us/

59. S O U R C E S
https://www.statista.com/statistics/530949/freelancers-income-change-us/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/530989/readiness-of-non-freelance-workers-to-freelance-us/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1223096/hungary-biggest-worries-of-freelancers/
https://www.statista.com/chart/10981/freelancers-in-america/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/941807/upwork-revenue-worldwide/
https://www.slideshare.net/upwork/freelancing-in-america-2017/1
https://www.reddit.com/r/freelanceWriters/comments/5zkowy/what_is_your_income_like_and_how_many_hours_do/
https://www.reddit.com/r/freelanceWriters/comments/bp8wzz/freelance_writers_how_many_articles_do_you_write/

60. S O U R C E S
https://www.quora.com/How-many-hours-do-most-freelance-software-developers-put-in-per-week
https://studentscholarships.org/careers_salary/154/self_employed/photographers.php
https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/photographer/job-market/
https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/16/fiverr-files-to-go-public/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upwork
https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/the-upwork-100-q3-2019
https://www.zameen.com/blog/freelancing-in-pakistan.htm

61. S O U R C E S
https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/freelance-stats/
https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/best-freelance-websites
https://www.ziprecruiter.com/g/9-Most-Popular-Types-of-Freelance-Jobs
https://firstsiteguide.com/freelance-stats/
https://millo.co/freelance-statistics-and-trends
https://www.businessinsider.com/best-online-classes-for-freelancers
https://spendmenot.com/blog/freelance-statistics/
https://analyticshelp.io/blog/global-internet-freelance-market-overview-2018/

62. S O U R C E S
https://ddiy.co/freelance-statistics/#Key_online_freelance_statistics
https://n26.com/en-eu/blog/10-types-of-freelance-jobs-you-can-land-tomorrow
https://www.android-dz.com/freelance-algerie/
https://izzoran.com/internet/comment-devenir-freelance-en-algerie/
https://moneyconnexion.com/freelance-jobs-on-top-10-best-freelance-websites.htm