Life in the Gig Economy tells the stories of workers in an industry millions of people rely upon. If you’d like to share your story, email staff writer Jessica Bursztynsky at Jessicabursz@proton.me.
Christina Perus is a 38-year-old who has been finding work on Taskrabbit in the Phoenix area since 2018. This is what the experience has been like, in Christina’s own words.
I started working for Ikea in 2016, and then Ikea bought a majority stake in Taskrabbit in 2017. I had been actually signed up with Taskrabbit to receive emails [alerting] when they came to the Phoenix metro area. They were in the Bay Area and in New York City and larger metros; when Ikea bought them, they brought Taskrabbit to every area where there was an Ikea. And because I was working for Ikea, I was like, “Oh, this sounds like it could be fun.”
Now I do it full-time. I transitioned from Ikea in 2020 to full-time Taskrabbit. I usually set my availability from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. And there’s always flexibility for me to make things earlier or later, as I want to, but those are my primary work hours. I put seven days a week availability because there’s really no telling how much work I’ll get. I don’t really preclude myself from work on a specific day. But I always end up taking plenty of time off because of the way tasks work themselves out schedule-wise.
I’m relatively busy consistently. There have been a couple of months where it was slow, but I think it ebbs and flows with the seasons and the way that people spend money. Back-to-school is very busy, but then the summertime is not so busy until back-to-school starts, because I do a lot of TV mounting and putting things on walls. I do a lot of work for college students that are moving into their apartments, and hanging their TVs on the walls and painting an accent wall or whatever.
I’m making way more. To be fair, I also have to pay for my own healthcare and everything else. So it does balance out, I guess. But I still have the opportunity to work as much as I want, as opposed to only being scheduled for a 40-hour workweek with no opportunity to make overtime. I would prefer to work like this indefinitely because it gives me the freedom to do whatever I would like to do in terms of vacation and stuff like that. But also I have a teenager that just went into high school and it gives me availability for her.
When I first left Ikea, I was terrified. Like, “What if I don’t get hired? What if I just don’t have any work ever?” I was surprised at how consistently I’ve been able to get work.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
