In a 2018 Henley Business School report, it stated that one in four adults in the UK had a side hustle activity. Having lived and worked for many years in the UK, I was surprised by this statistic from my own experience. It was a fascinating report covering a number of worthy points relating to future trends, HR policy, employer attitudes and talent retention. The idea of an emerging label of ‘coolness’ associated with the side hustler these days has no doubt been enabled by the internet and technology as well as the presence of millennials into the workplace environment. I can assure you that when I was juggling my three jobs (a full-time job and two part-time jobs) and course study back in my 30s, side hustling was very hard work and I promised myself that when I ‘grew up’, I would never do that again. Of course, that was then and I could not resist side hustling my passions years later – online of course.
As I always say, context is important. There are several perspectives through which to discuss this topic: geography, demography, generational and so on. However, a key one would be ‘economical’. Meaning that personal motivation aside – whether for extra income or for passion – in an environment where employment and welfare structures are inadequate, people will need to take responsibility for their long-term financial welfare. Here is a South African research report on the same topic
Embracing The Face of Career Management Today
My coaching conversations about career management look a lot different from how they would have been 10, 20 years ago. It was interesting in the SA report above to read that employed individuals who were seasoned side hustlers were much more confident about admitting that they had a side business to their employer compared to those who were new to the side hustle space. I wondered what the employers were doing to manage the retention of those ‘confident side hustle’ talents. How are they being listened to? How are they being supported?