In the first half of 2023, Russian firms outsourced freelance work to specialists from Georgia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, totaling about 4.5 thousand individuals. The count represents nearly a doubling from the previous year. This data comes from Solar Staff, a platform that analyzes freelance labor, and has been summarized for socialbites.ca readers.
Across the period, the share of Russian companies collaborating with freelancers from these neighboring countries rose by roughly 31 percent compared with the prior year. In 2022, there were 191 such companies, while in 2023 the number climbed to 259. Finances paid to freelancers from the five nations reached 815 million rubles in the current year, marking more than a threefold increase over the year before.
On average, freelancers earned about 56 thousand rubles per month, reflecting an approximate 20 percent rise from 2022. The majority, about 65 percent, received payments in rubles, with the remaining 35 percent paid in euros or dollars.
Solar Staff commented that Russian enterprises hired talent from both domestic and neighboring markets. The freelancing skills highlighted spanned IT and telecommunications, education, advertising, e commerce, and mass media, indicating broad demand across digital and information sectors.
The analysis was conducted in September 2023, with Solar Staff examining the presence of Russian companies working with freelancers from neighboring countries for both 2022 and 2023.
The broader takeaway notes an upward trend in the reliance on freelance workers from Asia and adjacent regions by Russian firms, signaling growing integration of international freelance talent into the regional economy.