TaskRabbit: a jobs lifeline for some unemployed
It鈥檚 a sunny, hot Friday afternoon in August and Jennifer Smith is out running errands. She whips back her long hair and secures big sunglasses onto the top of her head as she slides into the driver鈥檚 seat of her SUV, ready to hit the sizzling Boston pavement and check a few items off the to-do list.
But it鈥檚 not her to-do list. It鈥檚 Holly Hughes鈥檚.
Ms. Hughes has hired Ms. Smith to perform one of those little tasks that never seem to get done: take a bag of old clothes and books to a donation center.
鈥淭his bag鈥檚 been sitting in my room for months,鈥� says Hughes, as she hands Smith a bulky plastic bag in her living room. For $10 Smith will take care of it for her. She鈥檚 looked up the nearest donation center (which turns out to be about a mile away) and heads downstairs to cart it off.
Smith will perform three or so similar jobs this week. She might walk someone鈥檚 dog, remove unruly brush from an overgrown backyard, or find an reliable contractor for a routine repair on a tight budget. By the end of the month, she鈥檒l have earned several hundred dollars by doing other people鈥檚 most mundane tasks.
She鈥檚 a runner for , an online service that pairs people like Jennifer, a graduate student with free time during the day, with people like Hughes, who needs a hand, and is willing to pay for it.
The website, which has been around since 2008, but recently changed its name to TaskRabbit and expanded to include both the San Francisco Bay Area as well as Boston, seems perfectly suited to today鈥檚 dismal job market: It offers an immediate paycheck to people who are students, like Jennifer, or, increasingly, the unemployed.
As Friday鈥檚 job report shows, the economy shed more jobs than it created in July: Some 131,000 newly laid off workers will join America鈥檚 14.6 million unemployed. Even the number of temporary workers, which had been up the previous months as companies looked tentatively to expand, were down slightly last month.
About 70 percent of TaskRabbit鈥檚 鈥榬unners鈥� are unemployed or underemployed, according to a company spokeswoman. It鈥檚 a trend Jennifer鈥檚 noticed among her fellow runners.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not only people who鈥檝e had their hours cut back,鈥� she says, while winding her way through suburban Boston's streets. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of people just getting on the job market. One runner just graduated from college.鈥�
Without the service, 鈥渁 lot of runners would really be hurting,鈥� says Smith. And not just because of the decreased income. 鈥淭his job can really boost your morale and get your self esteem up,鈥� she explains. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e not just sitting around your house. You鈥檙e going out and helping someone.鈥�
While Americans are spending less on consumer goods, they seem perfectly willing to spend more on getting things done a little quicker. Smith says she鈥檚 noticed a significant jump in the number of posts on the site in the last several months. And TaskRabbit is planning on expanding to a third city.
鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 worth it to not have to spend my time and energy,鈥� says Hughes, about paying to get her errands done. She adds that another of the tasks she listed recently 鈥� building shelves in her bedroom 鈥� required skills and tools she didn鈥檛 have. She says she likes 鈥渂eing able to support members of the local community鈥� by using the service.
