As the COVID-19 pandemic threatens public health and safety, adjustments such as remote working and working from home have now become integrated into everyday life. The switch to virtual means business has also further fueled the gig economy, despite the increasing unemployment rate due to businesses shutting down. The pandemic has then brought a new focus on freelancers, gig-workers, independent contractors, and free agents, supplying the demand for businesses looking to save costs while reducing headcount at the office. 

As one of the top outsourcing destinations in the world, the Philippines has a very large and highly-skilled talent pool available to work from the office, remotely, or home-based. There has been a rise in the gig economy and outsourcing industry because of the flexibility a virtual team affords. 

With many workers now adapting to remote work, this also paves the way for more professions and office jobs to be completely home-based in the Philippines. As COVID-19 has forced remote working into a larger scale in major parts of Metro Manila and around the Philippines, fueling even more, the demand for some of these professions listed below. 

Virtual Assistant 

With everything and everyone now operating virtually, virtual assistants have become even more in demand to help in keeping operations organized and running smoothly. They specialize in providing administrative services to clients and typically perform tasks such as scheduling appointments, making phone calls, travel arrangements, and managing email accounts. 

Web Developer 

Online content is being consumed more than ever and has become an essential marketing tool in promoting one’s product or services. When a business has its own website, it adds to its legitimacy and easily provides consumers or clients with a digital platform they can go to get to know your business more.  

Web developers can make this come to life, especially for businesses looking to adapt to the new norms of remote work. They can construct the layout of a website, create a visually engaging and user-friendly design, and ensure everything functions as needed. 

Content Writer 

Writers are now an even bigger need with the dissemination of online information being more important in these times. News articles, blogs, and other forms of social media content play huge roles in informing the public of the going on in the world while everyone is still shuttered safely in their homes.  

Although big companies and organizations have in-house writers, many smaller businesses are known to outsource their content by hiring freelance writers or content creators. These content writers create most of the written material for websites, social media platforms, and other types of media, as well as strategically use keywords for search engine optimization. This helps with a company’s website visibility and drives traffic to its website and sales.  

Social Media Manager

Every big business has gotten themselves on social media to reach consumers directly and promote their services on their feeds. The pandemic’s lockdown has further caused a significant rise in social media activity, with people using it to pass the time and a flurry of online businesses popping up.  

A social media manager can help manage your business accounts and create strategies that catch the attention of these consumers, better promoting and marketing your business. They essentially represent the company virtually through social channels and articulate the voice of the brand on these platforms. 

Customer Service Representative

Organizations, especially those who interact and do business with other countries and multinational companies, need workers who can work around different time zones and be available to answer inquiries. Since the number of businesses operating online has drastically grown, the demand for home-based customer service representatives has also increased. Centers of Excellence, like Cebu, have grown their strong IT-BPO industry in the last few years, which has fueled the demand for this outside Metro Manila.  

They answer phone calls and support clients by answering questions, solving problems, and handling requests or orders, as well as sometimes giving digital and technical support. 

Medical Transcriptionist 

The healthcare industry is also virtually transforming some of its operations, especially with the need for social distancing and regular hospital visits being an infectious health hazard right now. Although most medical transcriptionists work for hospitals or physician’s offices, several already work from home. The demand for medical transcriptionists and other professions in the telehealthcare industry has never been higher, with the pandemic causing more COVID-19 cases and healthcare professionals to be overworked.

They generally listen to voice recordings of physicians and healthcare workers then convert them into written reports, transcribing recorded medical dictation. Medical transcriptionists also review and edit medical documents as well with the use of speech recognition technology.