The Gig Economy & An Overworked Generation

After a nine-to-five day at the office as Editor of Culture Cheese Magazine—a nationally renowned cheese-lovers’ publication—Madison Trapkin is tired. She’s been spending the day in meetings, writing articles, training a new employee, and completing any other task that needs to be done that day. Holding a major role at a small office means she’s already a woman who wears a lot of hats. But her workday doesn’t end at five; That’s when the second half of her day begins—when her side hustle schedule dawns. 

Trapkin, 27, is also the founder and editor-in-chief of her own food magazine, GRLSQUASH, which she started over a year ago. On nights and weekends, she devotes all of her time—fully unpaid—to fueling her own passion project. She’s been working hard since graduating with a masters in Gastronomy from Boston University to harvest a career in food publishing.  

And although she’s completely committed to and passionate about both of her jobs, she admits it’s overwhelming.

“Work-life balance isn’t existing right now,” she says. “I want to say it’s more fun to have a side hustle, but at the same time it’s exhausting.”

Madison’s lifestyle isn’t unusual. According to a recent study conducted by Bankrate, about half of Millennials have a side hustle—an extra job on the side—more than any older generation. Some, like Madison, do so as a creative outlet or business enterprise. But the study shows that most people in their twenties and thirties need a side hustle just to make ends meet. 

Diane Mulcahy, author of The Gig Economy and Professor of Business at Babson College, says the workforce is changing for everyone. “Traditional work isn’t working for a lot of people,” she says. “Certainly among millennials...they’re most often taking on side gigs to generate extra income.”

Jesse Slade, who also graduated from college earlier this year, works three part-time jobs to make ends meet in New York City. Apart from babysitting and working front desk at a cycling studio, the 22-year-old is also using his marketing degree as an Assistant Account Executive at a creative agency. But he recognizes how unlikely scoring a job in your field can be for recent graduates.

“It’s so hard to get a stable job that fits your passion,” he says. “Even internships will sometimes require a year-plus of experience in the field. But how are we supposed to get experience without an internship in the first place?”

This frustrating catch-22—along with the growing practice of not paying interns, even full-time ones—have hindered younger generations from following the traditional career path their parents and grandparents were used to. 

Slade believes the job market has become much more competitive as well, now that bachelor’s—and even graduate—degrees are so much more common among young people (Via Pew Research). The bar has become higher for employers. Meanwhile, Millennials are facing major economic barriers, like major student loan debt, and balancing these two struggles can seem impossible.

But most young people are used to it. Many have started to embrace—or, at least accept—the side hustle experience. They’ve been raised to expect to work extra hard in a culture that seems to be built against their success. And some have turned it to their advantage.

For Mana Parker—22-year old freelance journalist and artist based in Vermont—her unorthodox professional lifestyle provides her with more flexibility.  “I have time to do art [as a freelancer],” she says. “I’m not committed to a schedule where I go to work in the morning and come home at night tired, not wanting to do anything.” 

Parker spends her time making experimental films, fine art photographs, and animations, sometimes getting paid for it. When she’s not making income from this work, she’ll take on any extra gig—from painting houses to selling clothes and crafts online—to pay the bills. She says she prefers this type of career because it brings more balance to her life. 

“I’m able to work on myself, doing things I love to do, rather than doing the same thing day in and day out,” she says. 

Mulcahy, Gig Economy author, is an advocate for a work lifestyle like Parker’s because of these benefits. “The biggest rewards independent workers cite are control,” she says. Mulcahy says she also notices a higher quality of living among these people. “They’re like ‘look, I can go to the gym in the middle of the day, I can go take a walk if I’m trying to think through a problem,’” she says. “It’s an active, healthier, more balanced lifestyle.”

With access to the internet—and therefore lots of money-making opportunities—in the digital age, many Millennials are being creative about how to tackle their careers. According to Bankrate’s study, over three-quarters of side hustlers acknowledge that technology plays a vital role in their ability to partake in the “gig economy.” 

Trapkin’s views accord with this statistic: She believes that a lot of GRLSQUASH’s success, as well as her own personal success, was simplified by the web and social media’s advancement of marketing and networking. For example, GRLSQUASH was recently featured on Bon Appetit’s website, which brought in more followers and subscribers. 

Amy Larson has a similar outlook on technology’s role in the gig economy. She’s a 28-year-old full-time Marketing Manager at a tech company and full-time side-hustling entrepreneur who has the internet to thank for a lot of her success. She founded a recipe zine and online store called “Overseasoned,” which has yielded a lot of attention in the past few years. 

Her unofficial slogan, “Smash Garlic and the Patriarchy,” grabbed a lot of attention from her social media followers after Trump’s election; people started buying products with the slogan and sharing links and positive comments like she’d never seen before. Using this momentum as fuel, Larson eventually trademarked the slogan and started selling more products with it both online and in 20 brick-and-mortar locations. 

“I was really motivated by how excited people online were getting about [my idea],” she says. “I've since launched a few more lines of apparel and kitchen accessories with other original designs under my brand.” 

Mulcahy believes technology and social media play a crucial role in the economic value of the gig economy. “It removes the friction from the marketplace,” she explains. Connecting workers with consumers in such a straightforward way had never been possible in the past, and it allows for ample more opportunities. “To be on social media, to engage with people seamlessly and with no middle man has been a game changer for [independent] workers.”

Still, amidst all this digital-age opportunity, the post-grad pressure to pay bills and make ends meet continues forcing most Millennials into a work life that’s oppressive and exhausting. Jeremy Delgadillo, 22, has been struggling to attain any level of professional stability since getting his bachelor’s degree last year. 

No stranger to the side hustle lifestyle, Delgadillo worked two jobs as a full-time student for all four years of his undergraduate studies. Now that he’s graduated, he’s been taking on nannying, animal breeding, selling art commissions, and more—leaving little time to apply for full-time jobs and virtually no time to himself.

“The stress of staying afloat while also trying to find a job is hard,” Delgadillo says. “I have about 120K in student debt. And payment is around the corner.”

Mulcahy says the rise in student loan debt plays a significant role in side hustle trends among Millennials. “The biggest challenge in the gig economy is for the people who have the least amount of choice,” she says. “It’s the same challenge as in the traditional economy.” As a result, Millennials with financial problems become extremely overworked with multiple jobs.

Young people are facing a level of student debt that no earlier generations experienced. At the same time, housing rates are unaffordable, and entry-level salaries just aren’t cutting it (Via Pew Research). And for most graduates, even landing a steady job is hard work. 

Delgadillo says he’s constantly applying for jobs—sometimes completing up to 20 applications in one night—on top of the multiple side jobs he does to maintain balance in the meantime.

“I constantly feel tired,” he says. “But at the same time I can’t stop or else I’m gonna be screwed.”

Excessive work and side hustling often takes a toll on personal lives. Trapkin, editor of Culture and GRLSQUASH, and her fiance Nick Surette, a 27-year-old freelance photographer and bartender, have to schedule time to spend together every week, or else it doesn’t happen.

“We have two weeknights that we spend together,” Trapkin explains. “The other three, he works at the bar or travels for photo stuff, so I just do GRLSQUASH stuff and I don’t have personal time.” 

Surette expresses a similar frustration. “Our schedules make it difficult to spend much time together,” he says. “For me, personally, my love language is touch. Not being personally present with her weighs on me for sure.”

Surette notices that he and his fiancée are struggling, but it comes as no surprise. All of his bartending peers are equally overworked, and his other friends seem to be freelancing and working around the clock as well. 

“Personally, I think it's a symptom of the late-stage capitalism we're in,” Surette says. “The wealth gap is reaching a tipping point where there's just no money to be shared by anyone but those at the top.” 

While the wealth gap between the ultra-rich and the middle class broadens, people like Surette feel left behind. Most people can’t afford to live off the salary of a single job.

“Rent is expensive,” Surette adds. “And student loans are an enormous bubble teetering on disaster.”

This new culture of constantly working seems to make a lot more sense when you explore the context of our modern economy. Older generations didn’t have to worry as much about student loan debt, and rent wasn’t as expensive. For Millennials, it’s important to have a separate means of income to pay for rising rent costs, student loan bills, and everyday expenses. 

The Bankrate study reports that the average monthly income for side hustles is around $1,100. For those who are living paycheck to paycheck, those extra deposits can make a world of difference. 

But for Trapkin—who doesn’t make any money from her other job—believes there’s another element involved in the rise of side hustles.

“Part of it is just a job or resume thing, but part of it is just a human thing,” she says. “I think more and more, we have side hustles because as grown-ups, that’s how we make connections.”

Trapkin acknowledges that since moving from Atlanta to Boston, most of her friends and connections in the area have come from GRLSQUASH. It has built a like-minded community for her that makes all the extra work hours worth it.

“By having a side hustle, you open up a whole other world of connections for yourself,” she says.

Trapkin thinks back on the massive goals she set for herself and GRLSQUASH years ago—like creating its own event space and brick-and-mortar locations. “Now, I’m tired and don’t want to do that,” she admits.  Her best-case scenario is keeping GRLSQUASH afloat. She also wants to diversify and grow Culture’s brand. Then, maybe having kids.

“I feel like my life is never not busy now, and I feel like [it’s going to be like that] forever, until I retire,” she says. “But I like being busy. And I definitely want to be in publishing forever.”