The term "side-hustle" recently became quite common as a reference to the various part-time and contractual work Millennials are force to take on to supplement their income while searching for, or while even maintaining, full-time work. The cost-of-living is so astronomical that many young workers have to take on a couple side-hustles alongside their full-time work just to keep food on their table or the lights on. Now, other generations have had to take on one or two extra jobs before, why is "side-hustle" any different? 

Past generations generally got to rely on well-paid, with benefits, full-time work which fully covered their cost-of-living and they would take on a part-time job if they wanted some extra spending money. Others would work two or three part-time jobs to make-up for the lack of a full-time job due to lacking qualifications and/or higher education. The key difference here is the Millennial job market is saturated with qualified and highly-educated workers who can't find full-time work that covers their cost-of-living. Worse yet, that's if we can even find a full-time position. These full-time jobs are so elusive, that when a posting for one does appear it often gets thousands of applications. Thus, when we realize that we have to take any work we can get, including short-term positions, the market responds accordingly.

Currently, many companies only offer contractual positions that last three to six months, from which we then have to jump ship to find another way to keep the lights on. Short-term positions allow corporations to not offer benefits or worry about paying salary level wages, this saves them money and perpetuates the idea that short-term work is good for business. Contract work is now abundant and many Millennials find themselves working on a few different contracts at once just to afford the basics. This is where the term "side-hustle" comes in. We'll generally have a contract or a job that is our main time-sink, it produces the most money so it gets the most time commitment, and then any other smaller jobs that fill in the gaps of our budgets are consider side-hustles because we have to use what little spare time we have to hustle and earn more money. With the rising cost of rent and lack of full-time work, this is the harsh reality that young job-seekers face.

I was certainly tired of my job-hunt by the time I signed the contract on my first side-hustle. While it was definitely going to make my bank account a little healthier, but I still had to continue my search for full-time work. Job-hunting feels like my eternal struggle, but I'm glad to know it's a generational problem. I'm not alone in this and I just have to fight hard to find my place. The scary part is that I'm not sure whether I'll have to hold down three contracts just to make a living.

Dana~