In the summer of 2022, 24-year-old engineer Zaid Khan inadvertently went viral and set off a new workplace trend with a short TikTok video about how he was "quitting the idea of going above and beyond" at work.
The term "quiet quitting" was thus born and, nearly a year later, raging debates on whether this means setting up professional boundaries after years of being underpaid and underappreciated or simply slacking off at work continues.
DON'T MISS: More of Us Are Quiet Quitters Than You Might Think
While the practice does not come with a catchy term, working a side hustle that you keep quiet from your primary boss is definitely on the rise.
In This Economy, The Side Hustle Life Is Very Real
According to a wide-scale study conducted by consulting firm Deloitte, 46% of polled Generation Z workers and 37% of millennials said that they worked a second part-time or even full-time job in tandem to their main work.
As first reported by Fortune Magazine, some of the most popular side hustles include selling online products, delivering food orders or working for a ride-share company and writing marketing materials on the side.
"The cost of living has been [the workers'] top concern for two consecutive years now, and finances are consistently their top stress driver," Michele Parmelee, who heads global people and purpose at Deloitte, told Fortune. "Interestingly, these concerns are really consistent across both generations, so it’s not just a matter of Gen Zs being young and just getting started in their careers."
Another study by financial services platform Bankrate.com calculated that 39% of employed Americans adults are currently working a second gig on the side and bringing in an extra $810 a month on average.
They are, largely, keeping the projects quiet rom their main employer. The trend is also common across most Westernized countries.
'I Look Like I'm Online At 9:55 A.M.'
"I make art for my side hustle on company time and fully take advantage of flexible hours," one Australian tech worker told local news outlet news.com.au as testament. "In my company, most people are doing 10am to 6pm, and I supposedly work 9am to 5pm, but as long as I look like I'm online at 9.55 a.m., no one knows any different.'
Some workers are even tapping into ChatGPT to do their main jobs faster and take on side hustles.
A tech worker going under the fake name Ben recently told Vice's Motherboard that he uses the artificial intelligence platform currently subject to much debate to write reports and put together storyboards and presentations in order to do a second job writing marketing materials for another company.
"That's the only reason I got my job this year," Ben said. "ChatGPT does like 80 percent of my job if I’m being honest."
While traditional employers will often frown upon and speak out against side hustles as a lack of "dedication," Bankrate researchers found that the practice is often a way for low-earning employees to keep up with the cost of living.
"Side hustles have become more common, but like so many things in this inflationary environment, people are working harder but not necessarily getting ahead," Bankrate's Senior Industry Analyst Ted Rossman said in a statement. "Side hustlers are much more likely to view this extra income as essential, rather than a passion project or a way to get ahead financially."
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