The 24-year-old works in corporate marketing but takes house-cleaning shifts through an online platform to help pay for foreign language courses and professional training. She attends classes twice a week and cleans homes three evenings a week.

Each three-hour cleaning shift pays more than VND200,000 (US$8). She picks up extra shifts on weekends when she has no plans with friends. Cleaning brings in about VND4 million a month, which, combined with her office salary, covers rent and utilities and helps her make ends meet in Ho Chi Minh City, where the cost of living is the fourth-highest in the country.

"Should I go in or turn back?" Tram wondered six months ago, standing outside a customer’s home before her first shift.

After hesitating for more than five minutes, she picked up her bag of cleaning supplies and rang the doorbell of the two-story house. The homeowner was used to middle-aged women doing the cleaning and was surprised to see a Gen Z woman at the door.

The work has become easier as Tram has grown used to wearing rubber gloves and learned which cleaning products to use on floors and which are only for glass.

What she values most is that the job is "mentally undemanding." Once the house is clean, she can leave and get paid immediately.

She could also supplement her income with marketing work, but that would probably keep her at her computer until late at night.

"Eight hours at the office handling tasks, emails, messages and conversations with clients is more than enough," she said.

An hourly housekeeper cleans a home. Photo by Quyen Quyen

Tram’s choice of manual work after office hours is not unusual, as more workers seek second jobs to supplement their incomes.

Applicants for hourly cleaning shifts are getting younger, with many under 45, said a woman who works in partnership development at JupViec, an app for booking hourly cleaning services. Many work in offices, teach, sell real estate or run small businesses. Others are students.

They typically take three to five shifts a week, choosing evenings or days off. Each shift lasts two to three hours and involves housecleaning, with no cooking required.

The schedule allows them to earn extra money around work or school while leaving time to see friends and care for their families and children.

People with regular jobs are drawn to the extra income and the chance to try flexible work without a long-term commitment, said Lai Thi Duy Hong, a team leader overseeing more than 100 people registered for hourly housekeeping work.

Some workers ages 35 to 40 are also financing their "backup plan." They are preparing for a career change once they are past the age recruiters tend to favor and find it harder to stay with a company over the long term.

How long they continue cleaning depends on why they started. Some stay for three to six months, while many keep doing it for two or three years.

"Most have to get past their pride and their reservations about doing manual work alongside their regular jobs before they can settle in," Hong said. "This is a service business, and customer ratings are how their performance is measured."

Payment for a cleaning shift appears immediately in a worker’s app. Photo by Hong Chieu

"Hourly cleaning is much like the housework we do every day. Instead of spending all our time on unpaid chores, it makes more sense to find a way to earn money from them," said Khanh Huyen, a corporate accountant.

The 38-year-old was not under much financial pressure when she began cleaning homes nearly four months ago. She was going through a stressful period and wanted to keep herself physically busy so she would not have to think so much.

After more than a decade in an office, Huyen had grown tired of sitting at a computer working with numbers and documents. She chose manual work because she considered cleaning a hobby.

Her first few shifts felt like a race against the clock: she had just two hours to clean every room, including the bathrooms. At home, she could let a few spots slide. On the job, she had to be meticulous to avoid poor customer ratings.

After several shifts, Huyen settled into the routine. She now earns an extra VND3 million ($115) to VND5 million a month by working four or five shifts a week. Each pays VND170,000 to VND250,000, depending on the workload.

"The side job eases a lot of my stress, and sometimes meeting homeowners who treat me well makes me happy," she said.

The work has also given Huyen a new perspective on this part of the service industry and taught her things beyond accounting.

Manual work has taught Tram more than she expected, too. Regular conversations with homeowners have made her less hesitant to talk to strangers.

Sometimes, cleaning becomes enjoyable as she chats with a homeowner while helping prepare ingredients for a meal. Working on deep cleans with older female colleagues has taught her to distinguish between cleaning chemicals and use them without damaging household items. She has also gained more experience handling household chores.

Tram sees cleaning as a temporary way to supplement her income and remains determined to focus on her main job.