5 part-time jobs you can do during this Covid-19 period

Covid-19 is a medical emergency, but its impact goes far beyond the healthcare industry.

It has accelerated the global recession, impacting many key sectors in Singapore like retail, aviation, tourism and more.

I mean, the fact that the government had to roll out a second stimulus package — which was more than twice more generous than 2003’s to combat SARS, by the way —  says a lot.

5 part-time job opportunities during the Covid-19 pandemic

If you were retrenched or took a pay cut and want to take on a side gig to supplement your income during this difficult time, here are 5 jobs to consider.

Bonus — SportSG announced over 500 new openings to be rolled out soon. Read more about it below.

1. Social distancing ambassador job ($1,800 to $2,500/month)

If you are keeping up with the news — although this one may fall under “goss” instead — there’s been a story circulating the internet (and our families’ WhatsApp chats) about how someone was fined $300 by a safe distancing ambassador at Compass One.

This came after establishments started marking out alternate seats to encourage patrons to keep a safe distance.

As it turns out, the part about issuing fines is fake (as confirmed by statutory board Enterprise Singapore), but the social distancing ambassadors are real. In fact, you can apply to be one for some extra cash as well.

I saw 2 job ads for these roles (on Fast Jobs and My Careers Future), both for hawker centres, paying up to $2,500 monthly.

The job scope is the same: to encourage customers to sit on the unmarked seats and keep a 1-metre distance while queuing up.

Almost anyone can apply for this, you just need to be at minimum a higher Nitec or diploma holder and have good communication skills — you know, so you don’t scare people away.

2. Temperature checker / healthcare screener jobs ($8 to $16/hour)

For those who can spare some time to do shift work — think insurance agents or those who work flexible hours — you can consider being a part-time temperature checker.

The entry requirements are low, so even undergraduates can apply (min. N/O/A level or diploma).

The job is straightforward: help take peoples’ temperatures at malls, office buildings and even clinics.

Most of these jobs pay about $8 to $10 per hour, but I’ve noticed that the ones at clinics and healthcare facilities (they call them “healthcare screeners”) pay $12 to $16 instead.

If you’re interested, I’ve also seen full-time temporary temperature screener jobs, which may be better for those in between jobs. The one I saw on Jobs Buddy pays from $1,900 monthly for a 3-month contract.

Do note that social distancing will be difficult with this job, and you will be exposing yourself to a lot of people.

3. Covid-19 response admin jobs ($8 to $10/hour)

For many businesses, Covid-19 is not only causing a dip in revenue, but a logistical nightmare as well.

There in lies your opportunity – I saw many job ads for temporary admin assistants to help with things like data entry, contract tracing and customer service.

Some are temporary full-time gigs, and those typically pay about $1,400 to $2,000+ monthly.

For the part-time ones, the rate is around $8 to $10 per hour.

4. Temporary food delivery rider jobs (salary varies)

But that’s not all. Many restaurants are also starting to implement their own in-house delivery services.

That’s expected, since the third-party food delivery platforms take a significant cut from their earnings.

If you search for “food delivery jobs”, quite a few should come up.

In addition to the mass hiring post pictured above, I saw ads for Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonald’s and Khansama.

5. Contract data analyst at Singapore Tourism Board (STB) (salary undisclosed)

When I searched for Covid-19-related jobs, I also found that Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is hiring.

At the time of writing, there are 2 contract data analyst openings.

The salary is undisclosed, but since STB is a statutory board, I expect it to be quite competitive.

The first one (Contract Data Analyst, Analytics & Insights) is to track and monitor the effectiveness of the company’s Covid-19 recovery efforts.

It is quite niche, so unlike the others on this list, you’ll need to come from a data background and have the relevant technical skills to qualify.

You’ll be expected to create dashboards and produce statistical analysis. This is a junior role.

The second one (Contract Data Analyst, Data Transformation & Data Science) seems more to do with post-Covid-19 forecasting.

According to the job description, in the short-term, you’ll be expected to “provide stakeholders with a sensing on the industry performance / outlook post-Covid-19 by empowering them with insights on the visitors’ to facilitate their business recovery efforts“.

This is a mid-senior role, and applicants should have 5 years of relevant experience.

Bonus: SportSG announced 500 new job openings till end-2020

Yesterday, Sport Singapore (SportSG) announced that they are creating over 500 new temporary job openings and over 5,000 training vacancies from now till the end of the year.

This is to help those in the industry who have lost their jobs because of stringent social distancing measures.

The job listings will be progressively posted on SGUnited and SportSG’s job portals. 

According to a report by The New Paper, there were over 180 applications when SportSG first launched some 200 jobs, and almost 40 successful applicants started work yesterday.

At the time of writing, there were over 34 listings on SportSG.

From what I saw, the openings covered many roles including human resources, marketing, administration support, accounting, and more.

So even if your previous job was not reeaally sports-related, you can still give it a go.

For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here.

This article was first published in MoneySmart.