Here's how people are making money from home after losing their jobs amid the pandemic

The Coronavirus outbreak's devastating impact on the job market and economy has been staggering. Thousands of hardworking people across the globe have already lost their jobs and the crisis is expected to only get worse in the weeks to come. With governments instructing citizens to self-quarantine for the foreseeable future to curb the spread of the virus, countless families now struggle to figure out how they will put food on the table. Meanwhile, some are coming up with new and creative ways to make money from the safety of their homes.

Fitness instructors are streaming workout classes online for their customers, writers are taking on freelance commissions, beauticians are offering video consultations, and DJs are hosting social media parties for donations in return. Speaking to BuzzFeed News, Jess Duffy revealed that she and her business partner founded Wearhaus—an exercise and dance company—less than a year ago. "We were forced out of the studios we rented and left without a space to teach our regularly scheduled classes," the 29-year-old explained. "Our students were scared and craving community. We knew we had to be on a platform that was accessible and one that would allow participants to be able to take class regardless of their financial situation."

Although they initially offered their classes for free to anyone who wanted to tune in, people soon reached out with offers to pay them for their troubles. "They wanted to help support us in whatever way they could [so] we attached a way to donate via Venmo, and added a $5 drop-in option," said Duffy. Jess McGuire—a DJ, broadcasting host, and writer—recently found herself in a similar situation when all her festival and wedding bookings were canceled one after another over the past few weeks.

"Generally clients were wonderful and told me to hold on to the deposits so they could rebook a date with me later, but losing the remainder of payments I'd been counting on was devastating," the 39-year-old revealed. "Just thousands and thousands of dollars I'd been counting on that suddenly were no longer going to be paid on the day of the gigs." McGuire admitted that although she understands the need for self-quarantine and social distancing in the current situation, it's been stressful for her. "My first idea was to offer to record personal podcasts for people in exchange for a PayPal donation — they tell me a topic they want me to talk about, and I make them a 20-minute show about it — which I thought was a funny, goofy idea," she said.

She soon got many requests asking her to talk about all kinds of random things, from "cats versus dogs" to "a 2020 horoscope for an Aries" and "the history of Melbourne's docks." She also started getting requests for personalized "isolation playlists" and has been busier than ever working these days. "Being a freelancer means you're kind of used to hustling for gigs, so even though it's been hard losing some of the traditional ways I've made money in the past while the COVID-19 parameters are in place, I'm also familiar with having to be super flexible and used to having to push myself forward to get work," she said.

"It's an honor and a privilege and I'd love to keep doing it in lieu of having an actual radio show where I get to select all the music," McGuire added. 28-year-old Christian Tucci has also had to make the best of the current situation after both his daytime jobs—as a patron services associate with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles and an employee of a workout studio—were put on hold. "I’m a [comedy] writer and I wanted to kill a day or two of quarantine by exercising my writing muscles," he revealed. "I thought short poems like haikus or limericks would be fun for others to receive while being low-pressure productivity for me."

"The response was honestly better than I expected — I made about as much as I would in a day of work. Everyone seemed to love their poem, and some people even threw in a tip after reading," Tucci added. Duffy, McGuire, and Tucci show us how hustling is the need of the hour. "There's a lot to be fearful about during a worldwide pandemic, but I've also seen the best of human nature on display...love and kindness and generosity and ingenuity...and it's made me feel so oddly hopeful despite all the awfulness going on," said McGuire.