The Micro-tasking Economy
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you are short on cash but have no means of earning it for some reason? Perhaps the global pandemic has left you without a job due to the poor market conditions, and you’re frantically finding a source of income?
Fortunately, the microtasking economy is here to help you.
What is a Microtask?
A microtask is formed when a huge project is broken down and divided into multiple smaller tasks that are clearly defined and that can be completed independently over the internet. They are sometimes defined as Human Intelligence Tasks (HITs), which are small tasks that require human judgment and basic numeracy and literacy skills, including text transcription or image tagging. Microtask crowdsourcing is a valuable way to collect data that necessitates human perception, and the broad variety of systems that can benefit from these microtasks makes it desirable in many large scale operations. For example, microtasks include classification tasks which require the individual to identify road signs in a picture, which may be later used on a research project on self-driving cars.
Increasing Demand In The Microtasking Economy
In unprecedented times we live in today, one of the impacts of the global pandemic COVID-19 was the closure of many nonessential businesses around the world. This left many people jobless or with pay cuts, thus struggling to make a living by finding other sources of income. This is where microtasking comes in. Microtasks are a great way to earn extra income on top of your regular job, or even as a means of generating cash when you have no other options on the table. Over the past few years, the microtasking economy has exploded. The microtasing economy undermines the traditional economy of full-time workers and instead offers independent, flexible and temporary jobs. It has created over millions of microtasks for people all over the world, on a daily basis.
Benefits of Microtasking
Flexibility
Microtaskers take on small tasks that cannot yet be automated, and are distributed over the internet to microtaskers all over the world. Microtasking is often seen in a similar light to other forms of gig work — as a way to work flexible hours or fill in salary gaps. The beauty of microtasking is its flexibility in almost every area. In fact, all that is needed is a good internet connection. The rest is for the microtasker to decide — he can set up his own work environment wherever he wishes to, create his own working hours, select the tasks he would like to complete, and work as often or as little as he likes. He gets paid per task and everything can be completed in the comfort of his own home. This means that even in the scenario of a nationwide lockdown, work still continues. It would now also be possible for a stay-home parent to earn an income while taking care of his or her children.
Compared to regular jobs in a ‘traditional’ organisation, microtasks are simple and can be completed in a matter of a few minutes, with compensation for every task completed in monetary rewards usually between $0.50 to $1. This compensation could even go over $100 per task, depending on the nature and source of the task. There is no standard employment relationship involved, hence every microtasker can take on a huge variety of tasks from a variety of different organisations or firms. This gives the microtasker the ability to source for tasks that match his or her own unique set of skills and interests.
Low barriers to entry
The internet has a huge range of microtask websites, which caters to the skills and abilities of every microtasker in the market. Such websites include Amazon Mechanical Turk, Fiverr and Clickworker, just to name a few. The tasks offered include taking surveys, watching videos, creating logo designs, copyediting, testing apps, amidst a wide range of skills. No matter the gender, race, socio-economic status, age, anyone is able to contribute based on their interests and skills. With each task just being at the fingertip of the microtasker, these low barriers to entry make it easy for anyone to participate. With the wide ranges of opportunities to choose from, the only consideration on the part of the microtasker is choosing which task to take.
Wide range of opportunities
With the growth in the microtasking economy, there are now many opportunities for career paths which were previously limited in capacity. Microtaskers have a new way to get their foot in the door by first starting out as a microtasker, as a way to bootstrap new skills. They can increase their skill sets by completing a varied range of micro tasks, or choose to specialise and become an expert in one specific area. Gone are the days of a frantic scurry to find a job if the traditional employment falls through. Not only do microtaskers have a wider range of options, they are also exposed to higher quality tasks. The rise in these on-demand, microtasking style employment helps to take some stress out of job hunting, by providing microtaskers with a sustainable source of income and allowing them the space and time to find the best fit of employment for themselves.
How Microtasking Affects Productivity Levels
In fact, the microtasking economy may be the disruptor of the white-collar industry. In an experiment done by the Microsoft Research team, they concluded that while it is tough to complete meaningful goals with limited time and attention spans, breaking these huge tasks into smaller bite-sized units actually resulted in tasks being completed better and quicker. Task decomposition contributed to greater levels of productivity, because interruptions and distractions were significantly reduced for tasks that take little time to complete.
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