Are Side Hustles Becoming a Bigger Problem?

In this era, it is uncommon to meet a ‘9-5’ worker who doesn’t have an alernate source of income bringing them extra income; the street would call it ‘side hustle’. Everywhere you look, someone somewhere is selling a course, managing a social media account of a marketing agency, creating content, running a small business from their room, and posting payment screenshots with captions like, “I just made my first billion.”

A 9-5’er who planned to scroll for a few minutes comes across one of the threads and eventually spends more time learning how to pick up a new skill, simply because one job is no longer enough.

Side hustles were created to be a solution for middle class employees, an alternative to take charge of one’s finances without quitting one’s primary job. They became popular as a means to provide freedom from financial stress, anxiety, and dependence on one employer.

For many people, side hustles also came as a means to fuel their passion. The fulfilment that comes with knowing that the things you enjoy doing could finally pay you. The narrative says that with enough effort, your side hustle could replace your 9–5 entirely.

However, somewhere down the line, the narrative changed, and what initially started as an escape route turned into a second work shift. The same person who closes his or her 9-5 job by 5 p.m. is opening a side hustle by 6 p.m., attending to clients, making sure there are no delays with delivering orders, or thinking of how to get more customers. This isn’t just about adding another source of income; it is also about adding more streams of responsibility.

The general notion built around side hustles is to empower, but the reality in society has become exhausting. There is now a silent pressure to always stay productive; rest is now seen as laziness, the things people enjoy doing are now monetized, skills must be rewarding, and even guilts begin to creep in every time there is free time.

More convincingly, these side hustles have stopped being optional for a large number of people, they have become survival tools in an economy where salaries no longer meet basic needs: cost of living, food expenses, high cost of rent, and transportation. Side hustles are no longer about the extra income people earn. What was once seen as a path to freedom is now mostly about coping and just trying to make ends meet.

Social media has worsened the stress that comes with side hustles. People are exposed to constant social media success stories; the overnight success stories, the high-paying freelancers, digital and tech entrepreneurs working from five-star locations. What users do not often see are the sleepless nights, burnouts, mental stress, and unstable monthly income. So we work harder, we rest less. We call it ambition and survival.

The above points are not to say side hustles are bad. They have helped many individuals sort out bills, build careers, invest, come out of debt, and discover hidden talents. However, the problem is not the side hustle in the actual sense, it is rather the system that has made it a necessity for people to have multiple jobs before they can survive, rather than a choice.

It is bigger than individual productivity if an individual must have three or four jobs to feel safe financially. It is a question of economic growth and stability, expectations that come from workplaces, and a cultural norm that embraces overwork.

Yes, side hustles were introduced to create freedom and stability, and this freedom should include time to breathe, to live, and to engage in other productive activities.