Nearly Eight in Ten Young Singaporeans Want Extra Income

Nearly eight in ten young Singaporeans aged 18 to 29 have or are seeking additional sources of income, according to a new Deel-commissioned survey that puts the pursuit of Extra Income at the center of Gen Z work life. The research found 42% already hold side hustles outside their main jobs, a signal that second income streams have gone mainstream rather than remaining a niche move.

As reported by the Singapore Business Review, the trend is more prevalent among young men, with 48% holding side hustles compared with 34% of women. Young parents are also more likely to take on additional work: 53% compared with 38% of those without children, a split that shows how family finances sharpen the appetite for a second paycheck.

The survey of 1,045 working Singaporeans, conducted online in August 2026 by YouGov, found that pay keeping pace with living costs was the top job priority, cited by 72% of respondents. That was followed by workplace flexibility at 51%, learning and development opportunities at just under half, and job security at 46%. In other words, young workers want the day job to cover the bills and grow their skills — and they are building Extra Income on top to close the gap.

For readers weighing a side gig of their own, the message is practical: this is no longer unusual behavior to hide from a manager, but a normal part of how a generation manages money. The most common path is flexible, digital-first work — content creation, freelance writing and design, online selling, tutoring, and social media management for small businesses, all side hustles that counterBalance reports Gen Z students are already building income from. Explore more coverage on the side-hustles beat, including how side-hustle stacking has made two gigs the new normal.

Extra Income follows financial worry, not just ambition

Money anxiety sits underneath the numbers. Financial instability was the most commonly cited workplace concern, affecting almost half of respondents at 49%, followed closely by burnout at 46%. Overall, 92% reported at least one job-related concern, which means the scramble for Extra Income is as much a hedge against uncertainty as it is a wealth play.

The same caution shows up in long-term goals. Financial security leads the ten-year outlook at 71%, followed by homeownership at 60%. About 32% want to start a business, and 23% named self-employment as their preferred way of working — a sizable minority already picturing a future where they are their own boss rather than climbing someone else's ladder.

Young workers are also drawing harder lines between work and life. Only 27% said they give everything to progress in their current roles, while 29% preferred to perform their jobs well strictly within set working hours. Roughly half counted "having a job they could leave at the office" among their ten-year career goals, compared with under three in ten who aimed to lead a team. That boundary-setting is easy to misread as disengagement, but it pairs neatly with the hustle data: people are investing their extra energy in Extra Income projects they control, rather than unpaid overtime.

Trusted but expected to be grateful

Here is the tension the survey surfaces. A strong majority, 82%, said they feel trusted to work without micromanagement. Yet more than seven in ten also said they feel expected to be grateful simply to have a job, and 47% believe their leaders view their generation as entitled or lazy. Young workers feel watched over less but judged more — trusted with autonomy, then faulted for how they use it.

Karen Ng, Regional Head of Expansion and Market Lead for Singapore at Deel, told the outlet that employers should "assess younger workers based on their contributions rather than working hours." She added that commitment "should be judged by contribution, not hours" — short, direct advice for managers tempted to equate presence with performance. According to the Singapore Business Review, Ng described this generation as "ambitious, just not by traditional measures," warning that workplaces misread boundaries as laziness.

The findings also pointed to retention pressure for employers: 21% of respondents listed working overseas as a ten-year career goal, which means companies that do not flex on pay and autonomy risk watching young talent pack a bag.

Extra Income is a global Gen Z pattern

Singapore is not an outlier. Harris Poll data cited by counterBalance found that more than half of Gen Z has a side gig, compared with 21% of baby boomers — a gap big enough that the pollster labeled Gen Z "the first true side hustle generation." More than three-quarters of Gen Z started their side hustle within the last two years, signaling a major shift in how young people view the world of work.

The pattern is the same on both sides of the data: when entry-level pay does not stretch to cover rising living costs, young workers do not just wait for a raise — they build Extra Income themselves. Some of it is survival, some of it is experimentation, and for the share aiming at self-employment, the side gig may be a test run for the main act.

The takeaway for anyone reading this between shifts: the numbers say you are not behind. Whether the goal is a cushion against financial instability, a path to homeownership, or the skills that make a future business possible, treating Extra Income as a deliberate plan rather than a secret is exactly what the data says this generation is doing.