'Micro-jobbing' now a growing trend in South Africa

Micro-jobbing done right equals money for jam (Shutterstock)

If you're looking for a quick and simple way to make a few extra rand, then 'micro-jobbing' might just be the new side-career you're looking for...

The term ‘micro-jobbing’ is a new one in the South African vernacular. It refers to a growing trend whereby anyone with a smart phone and an internet connection is able to earn a few extra rand by doing basic little jobs, generally for large companies.

The jobs available vary and include tasks such as completing a survey to visiting a store and reporting on the quality of service, or even taking photos of landmarks to prove they exist. Payments per task are typically low, but since the jobs generally take only moments to complete, earning potential is high. Payments can be collected at till points at major supermarkets, and can be accepted in cash, airtime, electricity or data.

Read: 8 jobs you can do without a degree

School leavers, students and graduates might find micro jobbing a useful first step into the world of work, as a way to begin to build a CV and gain work experience. In South Africa, currently, micro jobbing is most popular among ages 25 to 35, and interestingly, among full time employed professionals.

Absolutely anyone with a smart phone can earn an income, and jobs are not exclusive to a particular demographic, age (although some platforms require you to be over the age of 18), race, gender, marital status, geographic location or education level.

On the other hand, micro jobbing comes without the security of full time employment, they don't pay benefits and work opportunities fluctuate, which means no steady paycheck.

Nonetheless, websites listing micro jobs available are on the rise, and offer a wide variety of different jobs to interested workers.

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Locally, a micro-jobbing service called Money for Jam (M4JAM) accepts jobs from local organisations, turns them into tasks that can be executed in under ten minutes. The South African site offers jobs as diverse as from helping navigation services to validate and create mapping data, to price-checking for organisations, and even helping ad agencies to test different versions of pre-flighted TV ads. Employers, or ‘jobbers’, can collect their earnings at Pick n Pay, Boxer and Shoprite Checkers stores.

Here are a few other ideas to make money doing virtually nothing, but, if you’d prefer something more permanent, browse Careers24 today