Musa Moholo, a student from Dublin, has been working as a part-time bicycle courier with a food delivery service for the last six months.
“I think it is a pretty handy job ... just because it’s very flexible and the pay is good when it pays,” says the 19-year-old who is studying economics and Spanish.
He says he can pick when and if he works by logging on to an online portal which shows whether there is a high or low demand for couriers at any given time.
“I get between €4.25 [Monday-Friday] and €4.75 [Saturday-Sunday] per delivery I make. It does put pressure on me to get through my deliveries fast in order to make any money at all.
“Normally I can get maybe just about three [deliveries] done in an hour. So I could earn between €12 and €15 in an hour, which is good, but it’s also rare. The only time that would happen is rush hour, between six and nine o’clock.”
Moholo says he comes out with between €150-€200 every two weeks, usually working five two-hour shifts a week.
Unreliable
“I think the job is perfect for my demographic: young, fit and a lot of free time. I only need a part-time job as I’m in college,” he says.
“If I was trying to do it full-time, I’m pretty sure it would be a big struggle just because it’s so unreliable.
“There’s no assurance with it at all. I’m not guaranteed to get any jobs or deliveries every night. It just depends on if people are ordering food.”
He says he could get a job in a cafe and he would have a “guaranteed” set of hours and wages but adds: “I’m pretty happy because I choose completely when I work.
“So if I’m just free whenever, I can log on and go out and work... Luckily because I’m in college and I don’t have much going on, I am normally free at night.
“But there has definitely been times where I’m like desperate to go out and earn a bit of cash before my next pay cheque and then if there’s low demand and I don’t get any jobs – then it’s very frustrating.”
