Mechanical Turk would be a good counter example but I don't think anyone in the US could realistically make a living from it.
Maybe the answer is a start up that aims on giving these people a new skill set, which allows them to do something that is fairly procedural but something that can't be automated. Some of the jobs we find boring and monotonous may seem new and exciting to people just moving into tech.
I found a great designer who was laid off from a full-time job as an Art Director. He is doing contract work now but only part-time while he looks for another full-time job. This gave me an opportunity to get him involved with a new project. I got favorable terms on compensation and he's more interested in the project because it's not just another side job.
I know a few programmers working in the US on visas that were laid off. Both decided to return to school for masters or phds instead of attempting to find a new job within a month. I'd love to hire them to do work but haven't done enough research into whether that's feasible. Both were previous co-workers. Hard working, smart and motivated to do well as programmers. But didn't have much initiative to step into design or program management. This ended up being their down fall. The company wanted people that could code and absorb layoffs in testing, design and management. Being a good programmer wasn't enough. /sigh
Definitely some great talent out there that has stumbled into bad luck with the economy.