With Australians feeling the pinch due to inflation and the rising cost of living, more people are looking for side jobs than ever before. According to Sidekicker – Australia & New Zealand’s leading temporary and casual staffing platform that is creating better outcomes for businesses and workers – its platform has experienced an uptick in demand, with weekly worker sign-ups hitting an all-time high in recent months.
With unemployment having hit a record low of 3.4 per cent in July this year, worker shortages continue to plague employers. The war on talent is resulting in tough competition to secure staff, with Sidekicker’s clients – over 7,000 businesses across the hospitality, events, mobility, promotions, retail, horticulture, warehousing, white collar and aged care sectors – increasingly offering its 20,000+ workers (known as Sidekicks) rates more than 5% above the minimum wage, on average.
In particular, the hospitality and healthcare sectors have increased their casual rates significantly, rising between 15-25% and up to and beyond 30% for certain roles compared to six months ago.
Over the past year, Sidekicker has seen the highest growth in demand for casual work for those under 25 and over 55.
Sidekicker CEO Thomas Amos, who created the company with Jacqui Bull, said that there’s unprecedented opportunity for people to make extra cash through casual and temporary work.
“Many businesses are continuing to experience huge demand for staff; not just the hospitality industry, but the healthcare sector and also businesses looking for remote admin support. There are a lot of reasons people might choose to pick up extra work, whether they’re uni students looking for flexible work hours, business owners needing an extra income stream, or parents who just want to pick up shifts when it suits them,” Amos said.
“Our workers have a significantly better experience finding work via our app than approaching businesses directly. They can pick and choose the jobs they like, they can work across multiple industries different days of the week, and can choose to work as often or as little as they’d like. Our platform makes it easier, faster and more cost effective for businesses to hire skilled staff when they need them, while also giving workers more control over when and where they work, and how much they earn.”
Sidekicker has revealed a list of its most in demand roles, including how much workers on the platform can earn and what skills are needed:
Hospitality
In the hospitality industry, lower skilled jobs like F&B attendant and bartender can earn up to $40 an hour, while chefs can earn up to $50 an hour filling casual shifts.
F&B Attendant
- Earnings: Up to $40 per hour
- Pros:High demand role with plenty of work available across a range of clients – from corporate F&B at top hotels to more casual fast-paced service at large sporting event venues
- Average shift length: 6.5 hours
- Skills required: basic customer service and 3 plate carry, certification required – RSA
Bartender
- Earnings: Up to $40 per hour
- Pros: High demand role with opportunities for all skill levels – basic tap pour to more experienced bar managers
- Average shift length:average shift length 6.5 hours
- Skills required: Basic customer service and tap pour and beverage knowledge, cert required – RSA
Chef
- Earnings: Up to $50 per hour
- Pros: High demand role with the opportunity to work alongside top professionals in commercial kitchens. Full-time chef roles tend to be very challenging but Sidekicks can choose the days they work and from a range of shift lengths, which range from 3 hours to 11 hours
- Average shift length:7.5 hours
- Skills required: Experience in commercial kitchen, certification required Certificate iii or iv in Commercial Cookery
Aged Care
For experienced nurses with the right qualifications, there are a large number of aged care facilities currently looking for staff and willing to pay well above award wages.
Assistant in Nursing (AIN) / Personal Care Assistant (PCA)
- Earnings: Up to $59 per hour, 34-68/hour standard; up to $80 per hour for COVID red zones
- Pros:High demand and a large number of clients, allowing Sidekicks to choose which sites they work on which days. Pays way above the industry average
- Length of shifts:Generally 4 ,6 or 8 hours (Shifts available across AM, PM, and Night Duties)
- Skills required for the role: Six months experience as a full-time AIN/PCA, manual handling experience,Police Check, Covid Vaccinations + Booster, Flu Shot, Hand Hygiene, Education Degree
Warehousing
Due to safety requirements, anyone wanting to join Sidekicker’s platform for warehousing and logistics roles, must have prior experience in a warehouse environment.
General assistants & Pick Packers
- Earnings: Up to $36 per hour
- Pros:Great clients, plenty of work available
- Average length of shifts: usually 8 hours
- Skills required for role: Previous exp working in a warehouse environment preferred
Forklift Drivers
- Earnings: Up to $40 per hour
- Pros:great clients, plenty of work available
- Average length of shifts:usually 8 hours
- Skills required for role: LF license, Previous experience working in a warehouse environment
White Collar
For anyone with basic computer skills, there are a number of great admin support roles for a large range of businesses. As a bonus, most of this work can be done remotely.
Admin support
- Earnings: Up to $32 per hour
- Pros:Lots of work available, remote work available – great for business owners to help fill quieter days and stay at home parents looking for extra cash
- Average length of shifts:usually 7 hours
- Skills required for role: Basic computer skills
Sidekicker’s technology has disrupted an out-of-date recruitment model, innovating casual and temporary labour-hire to bring efficiencies, transparency, choice and control to both workers and businesses. The Sidekicker platform provides Sidekicks with an easy way to access casual work as and when they choose.
For businesses, Sidekicker’s unique two-way rating and review system drives accountability and reliability of staff, while its transparent platform provides businesses the ability to choose their ideal workers.
Currently, Sidekicker has more than 20,000 casual workers on the platform, supporting more than 7,000 businesses across Australia and New Zealand. With offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Auckland and Wellington, it also hires 133 full-time staff.
