Gen Z Treats Side Hustles as Career Insurance, Survey Finds

Most side hustlers say they took on a second job for the money. A new survey of American workers suggests the fuller answer is often fear: worry that the full-time job might not be there tomorrow. The second job has quietly become a form of career insurance.

Careerminds, a global workforce solutions company, surveyed a thousand full-time employees in January 2026 who also earn money from a side hustle. Nearly two-thirds of them, 64.1 percent, said they feel pressured to bring in extra income because of concerns about job security. Extra cash is still the stated motive, cited by 93.2 percent, but the reasons underneath have shifted from ambition to defense.

What motivates side hustlers in 2026

During the pandemic years, side hustles often meant turning a hobby or passion into a paycheck. The 2026 data tells a different story. Beyond the need for more money, 37.5 percent of workers said they are building a safety net in case they get laid off, and 37.9 percent are hustling to save for retirement or long-term goals. Picking up new skills came in at 34.9 percent, exactly even with pursuing a passion or hobby. The passion project has not disappeared, but it is no longer driving the trend. Across the responses, the dominant pattern is career insurance: extra work taken on to hedge against an unstable job market.

Gen Z sits at the front of the shift. Nearly seven in ten Gen Z respondents, 69.4 percent, said they take on extra work as a financial safety net, ahead of 63.6 percent of millennials. Careerminds links that to a confidence problem: job confidence among the youngest workers is at its lowest level since 2020. The pattern is not limited to the United States. A 2026 RBC poll found that 46 percent of Gen Z side hustle owners in Canada run a business on top of a full-time job, with another third of their peers saying they aspire to start one (GenZ NewZ). Women reported hustling for job security at slightly higher rates than men, 67.6 percent versus 61.5 percent, consistent with broader research showing women experience job insecurity more often.

Other surveys land in the same territory. A Harris Poll reported by Forbes found that 57 percent of Gen Z workers maintain a side hustle, more than any older generation, with commentators describing it as a redefinition of professional identity (London Daily News). The Careerminds numbers give that trend a motive: career insurance taken out against layoffs and job uncertainty.

The hidden costs of career insurance

This kind of career insurance carries real costs. To earn roughly a quarter of their total income from extra work, the average American side hustler spends about a fifth of their free time outside full-time work on a second job. More than a third, 35.1 percent, spend 11 to 15 hours a week on it, while 31.5 percent spend 5 to 10 hours. One in five, 20.4 percent, works an additional 16 to 20 hours a week on top of an already full schedule. For many, the arrangement has stopped feeling temporary. Research published in August found that 56 percent of gig workers now earn most of their household income from platform work (GenZ NewZ), a sign that the second job is, for a growing share of workers, no longer on the side.

Much of that work happens without the boss knowing. About 32 percent of those surveyed said they operate their side hustle without their employer's knowledge. Another 26.5 percent said their employer knows about the side hustle but not the details, while 41.3 percent disclosed everything. Careerminds career expert Amanda Augustine said whether workers should tell an employer comes down to the relationship, the company culture, and what the employment agreement says. She added that the question gets harder when the side work overlaps with the day job or creates a conflict of interest, since employers care most about whether outside work affects performance or loyalty.

The strain is measurable. About 55 percent of respondents said their extra work contributed to moderate or severe burnout, and 87.4 percent reported at least some increase in stress. What began as career insurance is, for many, generating new pressure of its own.

What workers say would actually help

Many side hustlers made one thing clear in the survey: they would scale back or give up the second job if their full-time role felt safer. More than 63 percent said extra support from their employer would moderately or significantly improve their sense of job security and reduce the need for a side hustle. Only 11 percent said it would make no difference, according to the survey.

What would that support look like? About 62 percent pointed to opportunities for growth and upskilling, 51 percent wanted regular updates about job stability, and 48 percent asked for financial wellness programs. It reads less like a request for perks and more like a request for clarity about where the company is headed and where employees stand in it.

The overall market keeps growing either way. The side hustle economy is estimated to reach $1,847 billion by 2032, according to Careerminds, which cites World Economic Forum-linked data. Most side hustlers, 43 percent, earn 10 to 25 percent of their total income from the extra work, which moves the household budget without replacing the day job. As long as job security feels fragile, the second job functions as a contingency plan.