iTWire

Airtasker boasts a 'workforce' of 43,000 people in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

It also brags that it has 'created' over $600,000 in jobs. But that's just under $13.95 per person.

Included in that average is the company's move into the business market - when it started, the jobs were largely personal services like giving someone a lift to the airport or walking a dog.

Last November saw the launch of Airtasker Business and since then more than half the jobs have been 'real work' that would otherwise be performed by people employed directly by the business concerned or through a temp agency or labour hire firm for activities such as promotional work and mystery shopping.

Two recent examples involved handing out leaflets. One paid $170 for nine hours work on weekdays, the other $130 for six hours on a weekend. Not a fortune, but respectable rates.

Some business advertisers appear to be trying to drive down rates. One previously paid $25 for a task (which if done properly would probably take far longer than the advertiser's estimate), and is now offering just $15 for it be performed again.

Since there seem to be very few tasks offered for less than $15 (someone did offer $10 for a scan or photo of the takeaway menu from a certain restaurant), the only likely explanation for the low average earnings is that a good proportion of Airtasker participants are getting no work at all.