TELUS Digital Review: Is It a Legit Place to Find Data Entry Gigs?

TELUS Digital (which, again, was formerly known as TELUS International) is a Canadian technology company that provides customer service and IT assistance to businesses.

TELUS routinely hires independent contractors for data annotation gigs. These often involve labelling objects in images, words in bodies of text, and voice recordings.

Though TELUS used to offer data entry gigs (i.e., transferring data from one format to another, often in a spreadsheet), the platform has largely shifted to AI training alongside data annotation. This pivot means they have a lot more work available than many of their competitors.

Yes, TELUS Digital is a legit company and is still hiring independent contractors. However, according to a post on TELUS Neighborhood (the company’s forum), there are also a lot of scammers impersonating the company.

TELUS urges you to contact them “directly through official channels if you receive suspicious communications claiming to be from TELUS.” 1

Although TELUS is a legitimate platform, the experience of working with them lately seems to be a mixed bag. Here’s what current users are saying about TELUS this month.

Fewer tasks available

One common complaint from various users on Reddit this month is that the available jobs are decreasing. In the NTA (No Tasks Available) weekly thread, a US-based data analyst in Florida said they experienced their first day with no tasks in a long time.

Another user reported very sparse tasks in Florida, though they later updated their comment to say they received two minutes of work at $14 per hour—which took only ten seconds to complete—followed by about an hour’s worth of additional tasks.

Despite the relative lack of work, the TELUS subreddit is still very active this month. Many users still claim to be receiving gigs regularly, though the availability of jobs depends on where you’re operating from.

Differing payment timelines

Regarding payment, one Redditor said that they applied for a task, completed it, and received a Hyperwallet email about a week later, with the total processing time for payment being around 10 business days. They also mentioned receiving numerous emails from TELUS detailing each step of the process.

On the other hand, another user on Reddit stated it took them about a week to get paid by TELUS.

While this does, at least, confirm that TELUS will pay you as stated, there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer to the question of when you’ll actually receive payment for your work.

When we checked out TELUS’s AI Community (which lists jobs that are currently available), we saw pay rates that ranged from around $8–$18 per hour.

It’s important to note that a lot of the tasks you’ll do for TELUS don’t pay hourly rates. You’ll usually get paid per job, and rates for this can vary widely depending on the task at hand.

Moreover, how much you’ll get paid also depends on whether your work is approved. As an example, one task that we saw on TELUS’s site involved taking pictures with a smartphone for a study. With tasks like this, you’ll only get paid for the images that TELUS approves, with each image paying $3.75.

If you’re interested in joining TELUS Digital, we’ll walk you through the requirements and signup process below.

Requirements to join TELUS Digital

Each task on TELUS has specific requirements. You’ll usually have to:

• Complete an assessment for your chosen language (whether you want to receive tasks in English, Spanish, etc.)
• Provide identification for verification

When we browsed the list of available jobs, we found that the entry requirements for most positions were fairly low. However, some positions asked for higher-level qualifications, such as a Master’s degree or more experience.

TELUS Digital signup process

To sign up for TELUS Digital, you’ll need to visit their signup page and follow these steps:

1. Enter your email address and full name
2. Verify your email address
3. Agree to the terms and conditions
4. Fill out the form with your country of residence, address, academic qualifications, and primary language
5. Verify your phone number

When we set up an account for TELUS, the whole process was fairly quick, taking around 10 minutes in total.

Once you set up your account, you’ll need to visit the AI Community page to look for jobs that match your expertise. Each listing will state how many hours you’re expected to work, the pay rate, and any other requirements.

As mentioned, if you find a job that you’d like to apply for, you’ll usually need to complete an assessment first.

Be aware that just how many jobs are available will also depend on the primary language you select. Many current TELUS users note that English language positions are a lot less prevalent than positions that require other common languages.

While we recommend TELUS and consider it a decent option for those looking to start a low-key remote side hustle, it probably isn’t a good idea to rely on it as a consistent source of income, considering the experiences of current users.

You can take a look at the pros and cons of working with TELUS Digital below:

Pros and cons of TELUS Digital

TELUS Digital is one of a handful of platforms that will pay you for data entry, data annotation, and other online tasks.

You can check out platforms such as:

• Conduent
• OneSpace
• Appen
• OneForma

You can also look for similar gigs on remote job boards. As an added bonus, you’ll often be able to find more long-term work opportunities on them.

Because data entry jobs are a lot less prevalent than they once were, for the best chances of success, you should try to use multiple platforms to find gigs.