‘I love that I don’t have to do the same job all the time’
Last year, Alison Goldsmith took a step back from her career in marketing and retail to look after her 94-year-old father. The 58-year-old found herself with little time to work due to her caring responsibilities and began accruing debts.
In February 2024, she stumbled upon Airtasker, a marketplace for odd jobs, and signed up. However, she said: “My challenge soon after I started was being able to commit to work when my dad needed extra care and was nearing the end of his life.
“So I stepped back to look after him and then came back to it several months later.” After her father’s passing, the Essex woman faced a mountain of debt and grim statistics.
“Age Without Limits reports that one in three people get turned down for work after 50 because of their age and there are 460,000 people aged 50 to 64 who are currently out of work that would like to be in work. On Airtasker, age doesn’t come into it.”
By September, Alison had dedicated more time to tasks on Airtasker, earning rave reviews and cash. In just a few months, she became one of the top taskers for 2024 and made £6,000.
She said: “I’ve been able to pay off some of the debts I accrued when stopping work for a while to care for my dad, which has made life less stressful. When I first started Airtasker, it didn’t even occur to me that it would be possible.
“I thought it would just be a few jobs here and there and the money would be helpful. I was surprised to see how active it was and the variety of tasks that I could do. My favourite thing is helping people, it is so rewarding to know you have helped someone and made their life just a little bit easier.”
After more than 25 years spent in marketing and retail, Airtasker is now Alison’s primary source of income, taking on a range of tasks from gardening to crafting an adult-sized Oogie Boogie costume. She noted: “Most people live around their five-day working week, but I’m able to fit my work around my life and whatever else I have going on. I love the fact that even on the day, I can find a task if I want.”
Having always worked for herself, Alison notes the similarity with self-employment but added: “The main difference is that the job opportunities are presented to me in one place, I don’t have to go looking for them.
“Also, for a lot of my self-employed work, I have to wait to be paid, whereas on Airtasker the money is in my bank account 2-3 days after the job’s completed.”
Looking back at her journey, Alison wished she had known not to overload herself from the start: “There’s no need to make so many offers! Although it’s helpful as then you’re more likely to be chosen, when I first started I thought that if I missed out on a job there might not be another opportunity but I then realised there were many tasks available and plenty of work to go round.”