Editor’s note: WRAL TechWire’s newest contributor is Dr. Sarah Glova, a globally recognized speaker, successful entrepreneur, university instructor, and business consultant. A seasoned educator and entrepreneur, Sarah is CEO of the award-winning digital media firm, Reify Media, With a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology and a Master of Science in Technical Communication, she is dedicated to cultivating forward-thinking work environments.
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I first heard the term “side hustle” about ten years ago from an entrepreneur at a coworking space.
He told me that he only used the space on nights and weekends because his startup was a “side hustle.”
At the time, a “side hustle” sounded cool. This entrepreneur wasn’t just working his full-time job but also building something else on the side—this something that might turn into a big thing.
After all, big brands like Slack, Yankee Candle, Under Armour, and Groupon started as side hustles.
But ten years later—is the phrase still synonymous with “hustling entrepreneur”?
When I first heard the phrase, and for years after, I thought it was for startups. I heard “side hustle,” and I pictured people in their garages, spending their evenings crafting products for Etsy or coding their way to the next big software startup launch.
Not just for startups
According to Merriam-Webster, the term was never just for entrepreneurs. It first started appearing in African-American newspapers in the 1950s and was used to describe both legitimate jobs and scams.
Here’s an example published in The Chicago Defender in 1950: “Alex Barnes of the Capitol Times was doing a public relations job at the conference as a side hustle.”
The term might have been appropriated by Unicorn-hopeful entrepreneurs, but the term has always been about side gigs, not startup dreams.
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And that’s still true today.
According to a survey by Bankrate, 41% of side hustlers in the US need the “extra” money to make ends meet. This echoes research in the UK from The Henley Business School and the University of Hertfordshire, which show that around half of people in the UK who “side hustle” do so strictly for financial reasons.
Just last year, over 29% of side hustlers in the US said high inflation was a factor in starting their side hustle, according to a survey by Insuranks.
The term “side hustle” may have been appropriated by entrepreneurs, but the term certainly extends beyond the startup world; as many as one in three Americans report having a side hustle, according to a survey by Zapier.
The rise in the term “side hustle,” according to Google Trends data from 2004-present:
The dark side of the side hustle and the “gig economy”
Research has shown that side hustles can exploit workers and reinforce a culture of low-paying and insecure jobs, especially when connected to the gig economy. A study conducted by the UC Santa Cruz Center for Labor Studies found that the gig economy, often associated with side hustles, is built on exploiting low-wage workers—and that conditions only got worse during the pandemic.
(Investopedia defines the “gig economy” as “a labor market that relies heavily on temporary and part-time positions filled by independent contractors and freelancers rather than full-time permanent employees.”)
The rise of side hustles has been criticized as a symptom of a gig economy that exploits workers and creates a culture of underpaid and precarious labor.
“Hustle culture is toxic,” said Eric Mitchell, Founder of LifeFlip Media. Mitchell shared these thoughts in a 2022 article from the Rolling Stone Culture Council, of which he’s a member. “I used to believe in hustle culture, and now I think it’s the antithesis of the ‘American dream.'”
Uber’s recruiting slogan, “Be Your Own Boss,” sounds different when multiple studies show that the “boss” drivers receive very low pay.
Maybe that’s why the hashtag #CancelHustleCulture has over four thousand views on TikTok.
So is the term “side hustle” now married to the gig economy—and if so, should we stop celebrating it?
A new phrase: Flex Work
I’ve been paying attention to a new term—flex work or flexwork.
According to the Harvard Business Review, “Flexwork refers to flexible work arrangements that vary from the standard in-the-office, nine-to-five approach. They typically include flexibility of place and/or time.”
The term is a fork from “gig economy.” Tim Fung from InsideSources puts it this way:
“Simply put, the flex economy gives workers the freedom and autonomy to monetize their existing skills on their own time and set their own wages,” writes Tim Fung for InsideSources.
“This differs from the current gig economy model, which requires workers to monetize their assets versus their skills,” writes Fung. “For example, DoorDash helps its workers monetize the assets that they likely already have: Their time and a reliable vehicle. The flex labor economy differs from this model as it enables people and businesses to offer the skills they could previously never connect with and monetize them.”
In other words, in the “gig economy,” I might have a side hustle as an Uber driver—something I can do because I have a car. But with “flexwork,” or in the “flex economy,” I might have a side hustle as a freelance writer—something I can do because I can write, as long as I’m given the flexibility to work around my kids’ schedules.
“This is more inclusive to a wide variety of different skills such as building a website for business owners, lending your voice for voice-over work in a promo video, or even helping someone pack orders for an e-commerce site,” writes Fung. “It helps people engage with their hidden (or discovered) ‘superpowers’, allowing them to pursue more meaningful work in a way that suits them.
Does that mean “flexwork” could save the term “side hustle”?
Flexwork Future?
As the way we work continues to change, I’m keeping my eye on “flexwork.”
And considering there are better earning opportunities for people who set their own rates and contribute unique skills, I hope the flex economy disrupts the gig economy.
Big time.
