Since its invention in 2016, our platform has been home to a wide variety of flexible extra earners, all with their own qualities. But what do these people have in common and why do they choose to work via Temper? We've investigated it for you.
Research Temper
Our own research shows that the average flexible extra earner is 26 years old, has been active on the platform for 3.3 months and has 6 different clients. In addition, we see that more than 80% of all flexible extra earners work an average of 28 hours per month.
Extra jobs besides study, business or permanent job
Many see working through Temper as the ideal alternative to a 'normal' side job. Take Inez for example. She lives in Amsterdam and studies at the AMFI. Working a fixed day a week is not feasible with her busy studies. Earning extra money through Temper is a great solution for her: "I can spend enough time on my studies, and also respond to gigs that fit my schedule.
SEO (2020) also conducted a study on platform workers and the gig economy¹. This shows, among other things, that physical platform workers spend an average of 17 hours per week working via platforms. A third of these work less than 5 hours per week. It also turns out that a large majority (66 percent) of the handymen indicates that they combine their platform work with other paid work. And that the majority of them earn less than 25 percent of their total income through platforms. This is exactly what we see on the Temper platform: the platform worker who, in addition to doing odd jobs through a platform, is studying, working as an employee, or running their own business.
Speaking of which, Willem (33) earns his living as a freelancer in agriculture and horticulture. In addition, whenever he has some spare time, he enjoys working in the hospitality industry through Temper. "Because I had little experience in the hospitality industry, I started as a host and dish washer. This way I could easily build up my rating and get to know the different clients."
Another example is Ferdi (29). He consciously chooses not to live according to the existing work system. He has a regular part-time job to provide for his basic needs, and the rest of the week he divides his time flexibly, for example with gigs through Temper. "Temper offers the opportunity to work at different companies. This way I get to know various company cultures in an approachable way."
Flexible and approachable
Respondents in the SEO survey also relatively often indicated that they appreciate the fact that a platform offers flexibility in the number of working hours, the time of work and the work location (60%). The accessibility for finding a client is also often seen as a reason to work via a platform (80%).
These are important reasons for Sabine (23) to earn extra money via Temper. She is a photography student and does a lot of freelance photography assignments. These assignments often come in at the last minute, so she does not know exactly when she will have time to do other work. "My studies and freelance work take up a lot of time, which is why I often had to ask for time off at my previous job, which was not very convenient. Temper is the ideal solution for this."
Freedom
Research Millennials at work by PwC² shows that millennials place much more emphasis on their personal needs than on those of the organisation. An important need is freedom and flexible working hours.
For photography student Sabine, freedom means organizing her own time: "That way, you have the space to do things that you find fun and important. For me, this feeling comes back in freelancing. It's nice to let no one tell you what you should do, and to have the freedom to make your own choices. The freedom that working through Temper provides allows me to get a jump start on freelancing and starting my own business."
Chef Thom (25) also experiences this freedom. He uses Temper as a crash course in entrepreneurship, so that he can realise his dream of opening his own restaurant: "I experience total freedom. I can decide for myself when I want to work. If I have no time to work for a month, it's no problem. It is also easy to combine with my own gigs; do I have any gaps in my planning? Then I look on Temper to see if there are any nice shifts online. That combination works perfectly."
Moral responsibility
Temper is currently being targeted by unions FNV and CNV, who feel that people working through Temper are not adequately protected by the social system. But this is not what we gather from research and conversations with the people who earn extra money. Founder Niels Arntz in an interview with the Financieele Dagblad³: "If there is a platform that feels moral responsibility, it is us." There is in fact a growing group of people who want to earn something extra in a flexible way and who do not feel represented by the trade union. Politicians must therefore finally make it clear what work you can and cannot do as a self-employed person, with enough scope to earn an extra income without the hassle. So that everyone who does not want to be pigeonholed as a temporary worker, for example, can continue to decide for themselves where and when they work.
¹ Bas ter Weel, Justus van Kesteren & Siemen van der Werff, Meting kluseconomie - SEO Economic Research, 31 January 2020
² Millennials at work - Reshaping the workplace, PwC, 2011
³ "Als één platform morele verantwoordelijkheid voelt, zijn wij het wel", Het Financieele Dagblad 29 October 2020
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