Dream Generation are WIRKING for a living.

With nearly a fifth of 18 to 24-year-olds in Britain are out of work, part of a 5m army of young unemployed across the European Union*, research released has showed generation Y is turning to social media to make a living.

Teenagers as young as 13 are reported to be taking advantage of their internet connection to reap money and rewards from wirking – the new term for internet work.  Wirk is defined by job opportunities that did not exist before the rise of the internet, and is likely to be completed, and paid for, via the internet.

Completing online questionnaires, polls, content publishing and search marketing are all examples of Wirk, as is the re-launched virgin.co.uk, where members can earn points towards Virgin products. While wirking can be a full time vocation, given the opportunity it offers for anyone with an internet connection to earn money, wirkers are currently more likely to be part time.

Rich Geddes, co-founder of wirk.org, comments: “The job market for the young is changing at a rapid pace. Just walk into Tesco and cashiers have been replaced by self service tills. Ecommerce is replacing traditional job roles and the recession is also a significant factor contributing to job losses.

“It is easy to see that even paper rounds are likely to be a thing of the past with online content becoming more accessible on demand. In short, for the young especially, the number of work opportunities are reducing day by day and the opportunity lies in social media.”

www.wirk.org is a not for profit organisation that has been created by users for users, and is a worldwide directory of all the Wirk opportunities available.

It seems the Dream Generation really are helping themselves and creating a whole new way of wirking.