Working as a clickworker – Do jobs on the net really bring in a lot of money??
Microjobbing apps promise the quick and easy money earned. But what does it look like in practice? Joel and Kim have tested Streetspotr and Appjobber. Do they manage to earn 100 euros each in 24 hours?
To earn a few euros, it’s sometimes enough to simply use your smartphone: "Take it to the supermarket, take a picture of the shelves with the detergents, and send us the photos by e-mail." This is roughly how a contract job for so-called click- or crowdworkers might read.
Through special platforms on the Internet, they can take on small tasks that can be done at home on the computer – and get paid for it.
This type of work is more common in Germany than previously thought, according to a study sponsored by the German government. According to the Crowdworking Monitor published in 2018, around five percent of over-18s are active on gig, click or crowdworking platforms.
Around 70 percent of them earn money in this way, mostly as a side income. Around a third of crowdworkers work more than 30 hours a week on platforms, and just under one in four works more than 40 hours.
The approach to crowdworking is like this: companies offer jobs via platforms. The advantage for companies: They often get the services more cheaply and flexibly than they would if they took the job elsewhere. Crowdworkers registered on the respective platform look at the offer and apply if interested.
The client decides who gets the job. So that the latter can make a choice, some platforms have a rating system for crowdworkers. So a client can check how satisfied an ex-client was with the particular crowdworker. "For crowdworkers themselves, the system is often non-transparent," explains Enzo Weber of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg.
Platforms arrange housekeeping services or courier rides
According to the IAB expert, the range of possible jobs is enormous. Low-skilled people will find what they’re looking for, as will people with high skills. Some of the platforms mediate or organize services to be provided on site, such as housekeeping services or courier trips. Or orders that have to be completed with a smartphone or PC. For example: reading prices for products in a store and entering them into a database.
"However, you can also find jobs that involve more complex tasks," says Andreas Lutz from the Association of Founders and Self-Employed People Germany (VGSD). This could be translation, programming or consulting work for example.
Clickworking is not the only way to make money on the Internet. Making a name for yourself as an influencer can be another option. "For example, you can upload videos to YouTube with sometimes very specific content," says Alexander Kiock, vice president of the German Digital Industry Association (BVDW).
However, you can only expect cooperation offers from companies once your follower count has reached a certain level. Companies want to leverage influencers’ reach for their advertising messages, and they pay for it. A similar thing can happen when influencers post regularly on a blog or on Instagram. "Here, earnings of several tens of thousands of euros are sometimes not out of the question," says Kiock.
Many crowdworking jobs are poorly compensated
Likewise good earnings are possible, if proven experts for a topic over an on-line portal receive additional orders. "This can be interesting for lawyers, tax consultants or trainers, for example," explains Lutz.
But lucrative payment for jobs received via the Internet is by no means the rule. "In crowd- and gigworking, many jobs are rather poorly compensated," explains IAB expert Weber. This is especially true if someone doesn’t have specialized expertise or only chooses tasks that require low skills, adds Lutz.