A big term that has come up in a lot of talks about employment in this current job market is ‘Gig Economy’. Over the past few years gig work has grown increasingly popular, with millions of people relying on it to fund their lifestyles as their primary source of income. People are drawn to the flexibility and freedom this type of work offers but like with anything, it also has its downsides. One of the biggest outcomes of the pandemic was more people than ever working from home. Many employees found the flexibility it afforded to be far more beneficial to their overall mental health and work life balance. When bosses demanded people get back into the office, many quit and started working for themselves. Some of these side gigs offer just as much or more as an hourly wage and you can do them on your own schedule. This is especially beneficial for parents taking care of young children or elderly family members. This graphic shows 150 side gigs you can do, most from the comfort of your very own home (or wherever you wish to work). There is grocery delivery with Instacart, Shipt and others, or Rideshare with Uber, Lift, and others, or food delivery with DoorDash or GrubHub and others. If you didn’t want to do delivery-based gig work you could do simple tasks which could be a variety of anything on TaskRabbit, Gigwalk, Easy Shift and others. If you are strong and willing there are apps for manual labor tasks with Dolly, Handy and Thumbtack just to name a few. Many freelance and gig workers are able to earn higher rates per hour than they would in traditional employment. They can also negotiate directly to form relationships with clients. Additionally, gig workers can take on multiple jobs at once, increasing their overall income potential. The biggest downsides to side hustles and gig work being a sole source of income is job security. Gig work offers no benefits, and no safety net in case of illness or injury. It is up to you to work enough hours and have discipline to make enough to pay your bills. Having only gig work makes it also more difficult to secure loans and mortgages. There are so many different types to choose from even if you just wanted to earn some extra with a side hustle, this is a great guide to save.
