According to statistics released by Digiskills.pk, an initiative of Ignite and Ministry of Information and Technology, about their first graduating batch, freelancers graduating from this program are earning nearly 30 dollars a day (more than 4,000 Pakistani Rupees per day) on average.
Digiskills was launched back in 2018 with a combined effort of Ignite and Ministry of Information and Technology. It is Pakistan’s first large scale program to provide youth with training related to freelancing skills. It’s the first batch graduated back in October 2018 and has so far shown some amazing results.
According to the Earning report and projections around the first batch, the freelancers who graduated have amassed more than 82,000 US dollars in earnings, with the annual earning of this first batch estimated to be around 11 Million dollars.
A total of 5,552 individuals were trained as part of Digiskills.pk’s first batch, out of which 2,2294 individuals are currently earning through freelancing. The total cost of training one individual through this program comes out to be about 7 dollars. It is expected that each individual will provide a 7,526 percent rate of return on that insignificant initial investment.
When PTI’s government came in power, it promised to create a million jobs during its tenure. With ICT sector jobs on the rise and lower software production costs in Pakistan, freelancing is one area where the government sees a lot of potential to create a quick and easy source of income for the unemployed in Pakistan. Initiatives like Digiskils can go a long way to give the initial push to the talented youth of Pakistan in giving them a means of showcasing their skills to the rest of the world.
