I love a good stat.
Uber this week celebrated 10 years in Australia. In the reaching the milestone, the company celebrated that its platform had provided work to 725,000 Australians as drivers in that period.
For perspective, that works out to be one in 35 of all Australians, and one in 19 of all working Australians.
Today there are 100,000 Australians on the books at Uber, which is equally impressive – one in 255 of all Australians and one in 136 of all working Australians.
At the same time, the Australian Bureau of Statistics this week released its employment data. A record 900,000 Australians worked more than one job during the three months to June. That’s about seven per cent of all employed people.
My mum is the hardest worker I have ever known. She often worked overtime or a second job during our childhood.
She worked at Harvey Norman in their commercial division (supplying builders and developers) for over a decade and would often pick up some extra hours at one of the retail stores on the weekend. This was in addition to running a household with three kids. As we got a bit older, she started working weekend shifts at cafes and in the hospitality stalls at football stadiums.
It left a lasting impression on me. There is always a way to earn more money if you need (or want) it bad enough.
One of the most amazing advancements of the past decade is that there now appears to be an almost unlimited number of ways to earn more money.
There are the traditional methods of working overtime or having a second job.
But there’s also the gig economy, and the shared economy. A proliferation of companies, websites and applications that enable us to earn more money.
You could spend an evening driving your car for Uber, Lyft, Didi or one of the other various ride-sharing companies.
You could deliver food for Doordash or UberEats, alcohol for Boozebud or Jimmy Brings, even groceries for Timeout (Doordash and UberEats now do this, too).
In the not-too-distant future, we will see Amazon enter Australia in a big way. It’s not as big here as it is overseas, but it’s coming fast. Amazon employs 1 in 334 of all Americans as delivery drivers.
Then there are the task platforms like Airtasker, Freelancer and Fiverr.
A quick search on the weekend taught me I could earn $400 doing a black and white drawing for someone (didn’t specify it had to be good!), $120 cleaning someone’s house, $100 taking someone’s couch to the dump, $150 washing someone’s truck and trailer. I could even earn $100 for ironing and folding someone’s clothes! They’re just the ones that didn’t need a qualification or skill.
For those with a trade or qualification, there are also websites like Hipages.
Then there’s the companies and applications that will facilitate someone paying you to rent out the things you own and aren’t using.
I’ve got friends who went away for a month and decided to rent their home out on Airbnb. They ended up earning more income from their home on Airbnb than they paid for their accommodation while travelling!
I’ve got other friends who rent out their clothes on The Volte or Glam Corner – earning hundreds of dollars for clothes that otherwise just sit in their closet most of the year.
The possibilities are endless, and the most amazing part is that most of these companies have only existed for a few years. Imagine the possibilities a decade from now!
The proliferation of these gig and shared economy companies also means it’s never been easier to increase your income if you’re willing to do the work.
Interest rates have increased and we’re still experiencing inflation.
Most people, when faced with rising costs, look at their budgets as a way and means to limit the impact of inflation and rising interest rates.
Another option is to roll up the sleeves and earn a little extra money via overtime, a second job, develop your own side hustle, or join the gig/shared economy.
We’re experiencing inflation at a rate we haven’t seen since 2001.
Could you imagine someone from 2001 teleporting to 2022 and seeing the abundance of opportunity for our generation.
What about someone time travelling from the 1970’s when inflation was a whopping 17 per cent!
In this respect, it makes me feel grateful to be alive at such an amazing moment in time.
