Gig Economy Jobs Are Bad

The Internet is teeming with make money online articles advocating gig economy jobs like transcribing audio or filling out surveys. On the surface, these sound like decent opportunities. Use the time you would have spent watching Netflix or scrolling Twitter, and turn that into a second income stream.

Today, I want to explain why this is not a good idea and why most gig economy jobs suck.

You Make Less Than Minimum Wage

“Make $10 an hour transcribing audio” sounds like a decent opportunity. After all, you’re doing this from home in your free time. Two hour of work per evening should theoretically net you an extra $600 per month.

Here’s the catch: Most audio transcription sites pay per minute of audio transcribed.

It might take you 2–3 minutes of actual work to complete one minute of transcription. This is due to the fact that you’re expected to listen to the audio conversation, type everything out, and then edit any grammatical errors.

Your $10 an hour quickly becomes $3–5. That’s significantly less than the United States federal minimum wage standard of $7.25.

Some Platforms Are Outright Scams

Several gig economy platforms require you to pay them. Or, they have high payout…