The many nightmares of Bangladeshi freelancers

Illustration: TBS

After the broadband connection was restored, someone asked in a Facebook group for freelancers, "How many of you lost clients because of the internet blackout?"

Dozens replied with their estimated loss in the absence of the internet – the lifeline of freelancing jobs. 

"I have lost around a thousand dollars," Sojeeb Chowdhury commented, whereas Hridoy Hossain said, "Three ongoing orders have been cancelled." 

Mahbub Alam wrote, "I lost three clients." Kamruzzaman Rony wrote, "A company has cancelled a contract worth $17,000." Shahanur Asad Sakib wrote, "I have lost a $2,000 contract." 

Shafayet Hossain shared a screenshot where freelancers commented that some lost projects worth Tk500,000. 

Some feared no one would hire Bangladeshi freelancers anymore. 

Muhammad Atikur Rahman, said, "My Fiverr TRS account is finished. I have more than 20 client messages and two [contract] cancellations. It incurred Tk400,000 financial damage, and downgraded the account for six months – a damage that cannot be estimated in money." 

The loss in cash is, perhaps, tolerable; they may be able to earn them through newer projects. However, the damage to their reputation is not recoverable, especially when the freelancers' ratings are a result of consistent delivery of highly skilled work.  

And all of these happened due to the imposed internet blackout. 

We reached out to several freelancers who shared their grievances on social media. One of them is Hridoy Hossain. 

He shared a screenshot of his client's reactions with TBS: "I need a quick modification and I see that the days of unavailability are getting longer. I haven't heard from you, so I have to cancel the order," wrote one of Hridoy's clients who cancelled the order on Fiverr.  

"Three of my running gigs were cancelled, so I lost my rank on Fiverr. Since we have to use VPN to connect with local clients, the whole marketplace is at risk because it doesn't allow VPNs," he told The Business Standard. 

He said that the internet is still not working properly and their clients are losing faith in them. 

"It is already quite tough for Bangladeshi freelancers to survive; our reputation was already ruined because of some unskilled workers. And now it is worse as we cannot reply to the clients on time," he added. 

Among the other crises that have plagued freelancers for a long was the unavailability of PayPal in Bangladesh. 

According to Hridoy, in the absence of PayPal, they use Payoneer which sets many illogical rules and regulations. "They impose a $30 VAT if you do not have a yearly transaction of $2,000. They take $3 commission for every withdrawal and $29.95 for card usage per year. 

Due to PayPal's absence, getting payment from foreign clients is difficult, " he added. 

Ibrahim Akbar, the CEO of eShikhon, one of the largest freelancer training companies, said, "Many of our former and current students were severely affected. Especially for new freelancers—it is permanent damage. Many of them not only experienced order cancellations but were also reported, and received low ratings, and negative reviews. Some even got their accounts banned due to multiple reports."

Even after the connection was restored, some were unable to perform effectively due to the slow bandwidth.

Abu Hanif Opu, a freelance digital marketer, said, "I couldn't do anything. I am dealing with a lot of F-commerce/E-commerce businesses that are struggling. If we cannot work properly at this speed, then what's the point? 

Officially, there was no internet for five days, but actually [the disruptions] continued for nearly 15 days."

A Facebook post by freelancer Md Shamim Ahmed stated, "If Facebook is not restored within this week and the net speed is not increased, we in the IT sector along with online traders will go on strike next week." 

This post was shared over 2,000 times and received over 5,000 reactions, with hundreds of comments expressing the same sentiment.

Another viral post by SM Monjur Morshed Shunno was shared over 5,000 times. The post describes the significant economic impact on IT companies in Bangladesh, specifically focusing on one company that earns $15,000-$20,000 daily, contributing to the country's remittances. 

There are about 200 similar companies in Bangladesh, each earning between $2,000 and $50,000 daily, contributing to national remittances totalling about $65 million per day, equivalent to Tk780 crore.

The post emphasises how these remittances support the country's imports and GDP. It also criticises the recent internet blackout, highlighting the massive financial losses and business disruptions, particularly in the IT sector. 

The blackout led to clients cancelling contracts, resulting in long-term business loss to competitors like India. The author argues that such decisions harm the country's economy far more than any political protest would.

Mahbub Alam shared with us that he lost five clients in the last 12 days. He used to earn around $1,000 to $1,500 every month from three of them. "Three new clients approached me but without the internet, I could not reply to their messages, so I lost them too. It may be more than a year before I can find such clients." 

"We can't even work properly with a paid VPN; can't download anything. I fear I may lose my freelancing career of five years. And this is not just my loss, it is the whole country's loss as well. I lost the internet connection three times while replying to your question, just imagine what the situation is!" he added.    

According to freelancer Hridoy Hossain, "Our image is ruined. I personally lost a permanent client who I worked with for the last two months and earned $1,600. It is very difficult to build a position in the marketplace. 

For some people, it takes up to three years to build a position."