Gen Z embraces side hustles because 'loyalty is dead'

[Celerity]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/25/gen-z-side-hustles/

https://archive.is/TXEen



Natalie Fischer is obsessed with making money online. Even though the 25-year-old has a master’s degree and landed a data analytics job that paid six figures, the Seattle-area resident has always had online side hustles. At one point, she was working up to an extra 30 hours a week by offering tips on personal finance as well as promoting products and brands across social media. In July, she quit her corporate job to become a full-time side hustler. “You just can’t rely on one income anymore,” said Fischer, who notes that she’s on track to make more money than her corporate job by end of year and expects that to increase “exponentially” in the years to come.

A growing number of young workers like Fischer are taking on side hustles to make extra cash, develop their skills, build their relationships and release creative energy by selling online tutorials, products and services and influencing on social media. Gen Zers — those born after 1996 — grew up with access to digital devices and the internet their entire lives, and many are keen on using them to make money. For many, the 2008 financial crisis arrived during their adolescence, and they spent some of their formative years of school during pandemic shutdowns and saw companies lay off thousands of workers in the aftermath.



Digital side hustles have low entry barriers to make additional income, and they’re often aspirational for young people who grew up watching social media influencers, academics who study business and entrepreneurship said. “Now you can easily spin something up,” said Aaron McDaniel, adjunct professor of entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. “Platforms … help you take a creative outlet and make money.”

https://www.tiktok.com/@investwithnat/video/7337504262425103621

Fischer found her niche posting content on personal finance — something she initially did for fun. She loved the idea of someday being her own boss and had taken a few social media marketing and entrepreneurship courses online. But when she started posting on Instagram about her journey as a first-time investor in the stock market during the coronavirus pandemic, she quickly attracted an audience. She turned inbound questions into TikToks and gained more than 56,000 followers there, allowing her to get sponsorships and create content for brands.

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[Johonny]

1. My company ended our pension plan 7 years ago

Now the CEO can't understand why we have 10 percent turnover and no amount of feel good team spirit meetings seems to reach the young people and get them to stay.

[Yavin4]

4. What? The company pizza party didn't get workers to stay?

Companies think that their employees are children.

[Johonny]

6. True story

It's pie day. Management orders free pizza. It's gone in 5 minutes. They didn't order enough. They can't even do feels right.

[RobinA]

7. I Work For State Government

and the same thing happened. Got rid of the pension for new employees. Surprise! No one wants to work here. Despite having almost enough bottom of the barrel, lowest cost computers for everyone, despite a person's car in the parking lot being the only place most people can eat lunch, despite the fact that I supply my own bathroom supplies for the many times the bathroom is out of something essential, despite requiring a Master's degree to be hired to do a job an average high school graduate could do and despite being micromanaged and treated like we're all pretty stupid, recruiting has been a nightmare and the few people who do come here leave after a couple years. Who knew? Despite the fact that if you ask anyone here who has been here for more than two years why they are still here and they all reply, "the pension." It's a tough one, this mystery.

[TxGuitar]

2. The loyalty was only one sided anyway

No matter what they say, companies have never been about the employees, it's all about the shareholders. Good for GenZ.

[David__77]

3. Absolutely.

Business owners promote “at will” employment- well, this is it.

[getagrip_already]

5. Still, they are building a brand based on youth and beauty..

What happens when middle age hits and they are now that generation and no longer hot?

Just askin..

[lame54]

8. We're a scammer society...

Gotta get one over on the next guy