Every morning, Rafin Ibne Jahur wakes up in his rented flat in Mirpur, makes tea, and opens his laptop. By nine, he is already replying to a client in Toronto about a logo revision. By noon, he is pitching a web design project to someone in Berlin. He has never met either of them. He probably never will. But they are his employers.
Rafin is one of an estimated ten lakh Bangladeshis who now earn their living as freelancers. On this May Day, as workers around the world mark the history of labour rights, a new kind of worker has quietly reshaped what work itself means in this country.
Bangladesh has emerged as one of the biggest players in the global digital labour market. According to the Oxford Internet Institute, the country holds a 16 per cent share of the global online labour supply, placing it second only to India. A separate study shows the total number of active digital workers is over 15 lakhs, contributing more than $400 million annually in foreign exchange. The IT sector alone accounts for 6,50,000 workers, with collective earnings estimated at around one billion dollars a year.
These are not small numbers. They represent a workforce larger than many formal industries in the country. Yet, most of these workers have no paid leave, no health insurance, no pension and no one to call when a client simply disappears without paying.
The numbers tell a sharper story. A 2024 ICT Division report showed that nearly 70 per cent of Bangladesh’s freelancers are under 35. More than 80 per cent hold university degrees. According to global financial service Payoneer’s data, the average Bangladeshi freelancer earns between $500 and $700 a month. This is far above the national minimum wage in the garment sector, which stands at around $113.
But that average hides a stark reality. Beginners often earn well under $200 in their first months. Income comes and goes; it is not a fixed salary. A lost client or a bad review on Upwork or Fiverr can stop earnings overnight.
Mostafizur Rahaman Sohel, former senior vice-president at the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), pointed directly to this as one of the forces behind the country’s recent slide in global rankings, from a top-five position to 29th in the CEOWorld Magazine’s latest index. He said many freelancers struggle with proper costing and undercut their own rates in ways that are simply not sustainable over time.
But pricing, he argued, is only part of the picture. Inconsistent work quality has damaged Bangladesh’s reputation among international clients, and there is what he described as an “unofficial code of conduct” problem.
Some freelancers, after bidding for a project, follow up with personal appeals about financial hardship. In a local context, that kind of communication feels natural. To a client in Germany or Canada, it appears unprofessional. “It creates a negative impression among global buyers,” Sohel added, “and once that trust is gone, it is very difficult to rebuild.”
Staying connected is another weak point. Many freelancers cannot keep regular contact with the same clients, which breaks the flow of work. In some cases, it pushes clients to look for cheaper options elsewhere.
“The freelancers who are doing well are those who have moved to the higher-level skills, such as UI/UX design, software development, data analysis,” said Mohammed Arik, a Dhaka-based freelancer with over seven years on global platforms. “Those who stayed in basic content or data entry are struggling. AI did not wait for anyone.”
That observation points to the core of a major problem the sector has been struggling to stop. As tools like ChatGPT and image generators become common, the simpler tasks that once gave thousands of entry-level Bangladeshi freelancers a start are disappearing. The country’s heavy dependence on low-skill work that can easily be replaced by automation has left many digital workers in a difficult position.
What makes this more worrying, according to Sohel, is the near-total lack of any official response. There has been little to no serious policy response so far, no clear policy direction, and no guidelines for the sector. He described the situation plainly: the industry is operating “in complete darkness,” without a clear plan, despite its wide impact on the economy.
The global picture makes Bangladesh’s importance harder to ignore. Worldwide, the freelance market is valued at around $8.9 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach nearly $22 billion by 2031. Around 68 per cent of companies globally now hire freelancers regularly, up from 48 per cent in 2020. The data shows the world is not waiting; it is accelerating.
For a country with 15 lakh digital workers, an educated young workforce and lower rates than most competitors, this does not have to be the situation. But without proper support, it is becoming one.
On May Day, conversations about workers usually focus on factories, wages and unions. But in rented flats in Mirpur, small villages in Jashore, and internet cafes in Rajshahi, another kind of worker is also putting in long hours. They often work late into the night, with no one watching out for them. They are not asking for much. A registered identity. A fair system. A government that simply knows they exist. That is not too much to ask. It is the very least any worker deserves.
