Peer-to-peer micro jobs app targets Gen-Z

UK-based startup hopes its app will help the younger generation earn money and share their skills to help others.

Android and iOS-enabled app Pickle is helping get the job done by connecting users who need assistance with odd tasks with those possessing the skill set to help. Users submit what they want or need and whether they are paying for the assistance, and those who are willing can get in touch, negotiate and confirm their cooperation. The app targets ‘Generation Z’, defined by researchers as those born from the mid-1990s to early-2000s, who are looking to make money fast by doing one-off jobs in fields they are interested in. This group is also defined as particularly ambitious, socially conscious and more likely to embrace the concept of sharing economies.

The app is similar to one-off job app TaskRabbit, which allows job hunters to seek opportunities in their local area, but Pickle has the addition of a ‘Dare’ function that allows users to be paid to complete dares that could boost their social media following or go viral. Users have the chance to set the dares or participate themselves, with comparable offerings including the infamous ice-bucket challenge. The app takes 20 percent of the payment from each completed job, representing 10 percent from either side of the transaction. Founder Daneh Westropp says the app has garnered 90,000 users since its launch in January of this year, referencing it as a “social platform for jobs”.

Social platforms enabling peer-to-peer interaction are popular in the technology world, with other examples including the digital platform that connects brands with social influencers and a website that connects travelling freelancers with local startups to exchange work for accommodation. What other type of app could tap into sharing economies to target Gen-Z?