The world’s largest online staffing platform, Elance–oDesk formally launched yesterday at Dubai’s in5, an innovation hub for entrepreneurs. With over two million clients in nearly 180 countries worldwide, Elance-oDesk’s expansion into Dubai follows a successful ramp-up of activity in Egypt over the last two years, in which the platform achieved approximately 80 percent annual growth. As Elance-oDesk freelancers’ earnings are expected to total $1 billion USD by the end of 2014 and are projected to hit $10 billion USD by 2020, the platform is set to harness the growth potential for the regional freelancer economy.
“All signals indicate that online hiring in MENA is growing faster than any other region in the world, a combination of both growing client interest and the increasing availability of freelance workers,” explained Rich Pearson, Senior Vice President of Categories and Geographies at Elance-oDesk.
He added, “The UAE is ranked fifth in our country portfolio, with some 25,000 UAE-based jobs on our platform and nearly 60,000 UAE-based freelancers. Elance-oDesk is excited to be a part of the employment evolution in this region, providing an advanced and credible platform for talented freelancers and forward-thinking companies in the country.”
But Elance-oDesk is not entering into an empty marketplace; it competes with a range of freelancing websites such as Nabbesh, Jobzella, and Laimoon. Nabbesh is a direct competitor offering the same services as Elance-oDesk, and it already has an enthusiastic regional following (as several commenters on this article have attested). Since its launch in April 2012, its user base has grown toover 36,000, with more than 1,300 projects posted on the website.
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Elance-oDesk launches in Dubai; poised to serve burgeoning regional freelancer economy
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