When I first heard the term side hustle, I automatically thought of the 1930’s with a shady gangster hustling people for money. I was wrong. A side hustle today is a trendy new term referring to a job you can work in addition to your more permanent job.
To have a “side hustle” or in the non-trendy term “a job on the side” is becoming very popular. Some consider a side hustle a business opportunity while for others it is an onerous necessity.
Types of side hustles are working for Uber, owning an Air B@B, doing online surveys for money, creating your own business on eBay or even renting out your car. If you want to get ideas for creating a side hustle check out Mr Google or any local market.
I was first introduced to the term by an employee in a large firm, let’s call her Jo. We were discussing the next step on a work project when Jo excitedly shared her side hustle with me. Jo said she was receiving commissions for joining people up to local fitness clubs and by the way what was my interest in fitness….
Recently Jo was divorced and although she had a permanent job, she was understandably motivated to improve her income. I was interested to learn more.
I enquired how much of Jo’s spare time was taken on her side hustle and she said most of it. Although she was often tired, she enjoyed the opportunity to make more money and considered herself entrepreneurial.
I asked if her employer was worried she was doing other jobs and she said quite the contrary. As I later discovered many people, including Jo’s boss, define people with a side hustle as innovative and sensible as they keep their options open. Jo seemed surprised I even asked the question. Clearly, times had changed, and I had to get with the program, or did I?
Doubts lingered in my mind – was this as good as it sounded? I thought why was her boss encouraging her and how much did the side hustle distract Jo from her full-time job? I also pondered what was the physical long-term impact of very little downtime and how much money was she making for all this effort?
Balancing those doubts, I knew the combination of cloud technology and the internet has created amazing job opportunities and helped many people grow or maintain their income. In some cases, the success and passion of the side hustle have evolved into that person’s full-time occupation.
There are clear advantages for people having a side hustle. Yet, on the other hand, there were two things concerning me. One was the growing societal expectation that people needed a side hustle in case their job went to custard. Two, did many people often already disadvantaged, and unable to get enough work, have to resort to potentially unregulated and poorly paid side hustles like food deliveries.
The concerns about job security and getting enough work are genuine for many Australians and according to the experts seriously contribute to an epidemic of anxiety.
Although our unemployment figures remain low, 15{01332a80e2e652688e18927fa9a6162580960d47bc08263a3993439d666dcd52} of Australians have declared they have more than one job and about 10{01332a80e2e652688e18927fa9a6162580960d47bc08263a3993439d666dcd52} of the workforce which is about 1.25 million Australians are underemployed.
What concerns me most however is, if the side hustle becomes the expectation rather than a choice; and as a consequence, the shady side of the modern-day hustle could fuel the lingering shadows of inequality.
I expect like any hustle, the hustler has to weigh up pros and cons to establish what hustles are worth the risk.
