2022 was the year in which the number of Argentine workers who provide services abroad -with the aim of capitalizing their income at the best exchange rate- increased considerably and was consolidated.
The export of services through remote work in Argentina is a labor trend that grew from the pandemic and far from having an expiration date with the “return to normality”, it was strongly consolidated in the last year, being the country with the highest rate of teleworking in the region, according to a report by SherlockHR and Computrabajo. Argentine exports of the so-called “knowledge industry” also grew by more than 23%, according to INDEC data. In this context, from Bitwage, the platform for payment of fees in cryptocurrencies and digital dollars, reported that during 2022 the record of new Argentine users was registered, doubling the great mark that they had already had during 2021, and they shared some points in consideration of what remote work represents in Argentina.
Freelancer, remote worker and service exporter
Being a freelancer means being a worker who independently provides services to one or more clients. Most do it remotely, with a laptop from the comfort of their homes or from anywhere in the world.
The traditional format of the dependency relationship proposes a fixed salary at the end of the month, medical coverage, bonuses and equipment expenses (computer, office expenses, connectivity, electricity, water, gas), but this new labor trend brings with it new Benefits such as an employment relationship with greater freedom of conditions, flexible hours, no fixed office, no daily transfers, work by objective. It also comes with new disadvantages such as time differences, and the difficulty of achieving a break and disconnecting. But these cons are appeased when the worker manages to export his services abroad where the income in foreign currency for an Argentine could mean tripling or quadrupling income.
Carol Franco, an Argentine programmer who provides services abroad from her home, commented that for a year she has been working as a freelancer from Argentina providing web programming services for different companies in the United States and Bali. In her opinion, this change allowed her to have a better quality of life because she can work from home and manage her time without suffering so much from the inflation that the country is going through, where fixed salaries are far behind.
“My recommendation to all those who want to export services is that, in addition to a good command of English, they start small in order to understand the dynamics and thus add clients. Many wonder how to do later to get paid for the work done “he explained.
At present, exports of services constitute an extremely interesting source of value generation due to the creation of jobs and the income of foreign currency. In the case of the Argentine service industry -informatics and programming, professional services, design, etc.-, according to a Bitwage review of official records, it exported a total of USD 7,261 million per year as of June 2022, its main destinations USA and the European Union, and resulting as the second complex exporter of the country, only surpassed by the oleaginous-cereal.
“In addition, according to INDEC data, in the last year Argentine exports of the so-called “knowledge industry” registered a growth of more than 23%”they added.
earnings in dollars
According to Ramiro Raposo, Bitwage Country ManagerArgentina is the country that grew the most in Latam in the last year with a 250% increase in new users and 350% in processed payment orders, being the 3rd country with the highest billing volume in the world.
This company that was a pioneer in the payment of fees in cryptocurrencies -was born even before the creation of Ethereum-, gives other guidelines. “The average remuneration of an Argentine service exporter is around USD3,000 reaching payments of up to USD 5,000 per month”said Raposo.
In this sense, says Raposo, the majority are from the IT sector: programmers, system engineers, developers, devs, project managers, coders, designers, etc. But other sectors are also growing, such as athletes, marketing consultants, translators, psychologists, and English teachers. “One fact that stands out is the increase in women providing services abroad, while in 2019 transactions of 1 or 2 women were registered, today 1 out of 4 users is a woman”he added.
On the other hand, an interesting fact is that there is also a trend of national companies looking for foreign professionals. “There is a growth in the rate of companies that contracted internationally and pay through our platform in Argentina. Undoubtedly, hiring talent is no longer limited to the country where a company’s headquarters are located. If a company wants to access the best talent, there should no longer be borders and the numbers of our growth show it”says Raposo.
Where to look?
From Bitwage, they have indicated the following pages to apply for jobs abroad and earn in dollars: LinkedIn, Freelancer, Upwork, Weremoto, Guru, Computrabajo, Boomerang and StreamIn.
Having said that, according to the Argenconomics report in Argentina there is another marked trend that indicates the opening of job searches throughout the national territory. “The popularization of the habit of teleworking accelerated the recruitment of remote employment. Several provincial governments launched intense plans to activate the local knowledge economy seeking to establish digital employment in their territories”, they maintain and point out that this initiative for the growth of the sector is also promoted by the national government with various programs such as Argentina Program 4.0 presented in the second semester of 2022, which sought to train 70,000 new professionals per year.
How to collect in dollars in Argentina working abroad
Finally, regarding this point, in a country where the gap between the official and unofficial dollars does not stop growing, how to charge and how much to calculate what is agreed in foreign currency with the employer brings a lot of uncertainty. Bitwage workers point out that to this is added the government stocks on the purchase of currency, export withholdings and the great doubt: the declaration of money. So what should be done with the dollars you earn from work?
Today there are specialist lawyers and accountants who can advise on the various collection modalities that are much simpler than most imagine, such as Luciano Pascual @loop142 who usually organizes Twitter Spaces talking about all these issues together with other “crypto accountants and lawyers”. who assures that cryptocurrencies are the great solution to this dilemma. “We have to get rid of the fear of charging in cryptocurrencies or stablecoins. It is a global trend and in Argentina it is a great solution to safeguard the value of our work. And for this reason, more and more accountants are trained to advise on the subject for be able to do it”encourages Pascual.
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