Mention the cost of living, job security and (shudder) home-ownership and you’re likely to get one of two reactions from an Aussie Gen Z: an anxiety spiral or flat-out apathy (because, coping mechanism).
But ever the adaptable bunch, Gen Zs are getting creative in establishing their economic sustainability – coming up with some pretty unique (and some downright strange) ways to make money.
From heartwarming to nightmare-ish, here are four ways Gen Zs make some extra cash in their natural domain – the digital world.
- Gen Zs are selling you their hair (for good)
We’ll admit it: selling one’s hair for a cause is a pretty heartwarming way for Gen Zs to make some cash online.
Companies like UK-based Bloomsbury London Hair Clinic work with vulnerable patients distressed by hair loss, and facilitate the ethical harvest of hair from donors to make wigs for hair loss sufferers.
“Our clients are often undergoing chemotherapy or suffering from one of the many forms of alopecia,” the website explains.
“We feel that to buy direct from a person is more ethically responsible than to buy hair from a supplier in another country. By buying directly we know that the money we pay goes straight to the seller.”
- They’ll be a professional ‘friend’
(Source: Jamie.Renwick)
Hold your horses – we’re not talking about sex work or even traditional ‘escort’ services.
Rent a friend is just that: an online platform facilitating connections between people for all kinds of activities – for anything from playing sports, being formal dates, attending family functions to being someone’s wingman/wingwoman.
Gen Zs just get paid for it (usually about $10 per hour).
- They’re ‘loyalty tester’
Now, this one’s probably the most ‘Gen Z’ of them all.
Loyalty testers are TikTok or Instagram influencers that expose cheaters by sliding into the dms of their clients’ partners to determine whether they’re willing to cheat.
If it turns out they are, the loyalty testers provide evidence to their clients – mostly women – in the form of incriminating screenshots or other supporting content.
(Source: Input magazine)
Eighteen-year-old Emma, who’s TikTok account has more than 50k followers told Input magazine that most girls offer to pay $10 or $20 (US), “but I actually do about eighty percent of them for free”.
“There are a lot of people who can’t afford to pay, and I like that they can come to me.
“I definitely think we’re going to see a lot less cheating in the next few years because of these videos.”
- And one Gen Z is even letting viewers disrupt his sleep on livestreams
…yeahhhhhhh.
This one probably takes the cake as the most unique (!?) way for Gen Zs to make money online.
Ladbible reported 28-year-old TikToker Jakey Boehm, who’s from the Gold Coast, has managed to make biiiig money ($34k a month, to be precise) by simply lying in bed and allowing his +685k followers to disrupt his sleep.
I mean it sounds like a low-key nightmare to us, but we can’t knock the hustle.
