Hi Zee. What kind of side gigs do you have?
You seem to have pivoted to a career lattice and now you're building a life that says 'screw the corporate ladder'.
Dear Zee. Your generation is hella resourceful.
Last week my husband and I met our new neighbours. She’s 25 and finishing up an internship in social work. He’s 24 and working full time as an electrician. Through a mix of hard work, family support and what’s sometimes referred to as “the bank of mom and dad,” they were able to put a downpayment on a condo and purchase their first home (kind of an rarity for your generation from what I hear). Here’s the thing though, despite getting over the home ownership hurdle, they both still have side gigs.
She told me about her housekeeping clients and occasional babysitting and he told me about taking on small residential electric projects outside of business hours. It’s what they need to do, to pay their new mortgage, cover every day costs and hopefully get a puppy soon.
I did some research. In Canada, roughly 1 in 4 people participate in gig work, with participation the highest among young adults. A large share of our generations (we’re in this one together Zee, Millenials do it too) report having multiple income streams as a part of their financial reality. I’ll let you decide if this is a pro or a con: Gen Z is actually one of the most economically diversified generations the world has seen.
But Zee, you’re generation is also actively rejecting hustle culture. I hear it, and see it on social media, all the time. You are enforcing boundaries and you’re very vocal about protecting mental health and preventing burnout.
So tell me this. How can a generation reject overwork culture while simultaneously stacking jobs, freelance gigs, content creation, delivery apps, tutoring, dog walking, reselling and digital side businesses on top of full-time work? My guess? Part necessity, but also, part of it might be that it’s a different kind of hustle all together.
Traditional hustle culture was about identity. It asked you to climb one ladder, inside of one system and prove your worth through progression. Stability was the promise at the end. You’ve made it abundantly clear already… a single career will not be your life.
The gig economy version is something else entirely. It’s about options, control, flexibility and unfortunately to some extent, survival. For many young Canadians, income stacking isn’t ambition for ambition’s sake. It’s risk management in an economy where housing costs have decoupled from wages, entry-level jobs feel unstable, and long-term employer loyalty no longer guarantees long-term security.
You’ve stopped climbing the ‘corporate ladder’ and instead seem to be building more of a ‘career lattice’, you know, just incase something collapses.
Hustle culture / the corporate ladder: give everything to one system.
The gig economy / the career lattice: spread everything across many.
They’re both demanding ways of living, they just distribute pressure differently.
Another personal observation. I think I mentioned my daughter and her dog-sitting gig in a previous letter. I’m obviously heavily biassed, but I do think it’s brilliant.
Her and her boyfriend live in North Vancouver. They’re both fresh out of university and very early in their careers. They’ve opted not to have a personal vehicle at this stage, but still find themselves struggling with nearly $2,500 rent in a one bedroom basement suite (unfortunately very normal for that economy) and every day expenses.
Dog sitting has created multiple, really cool opportunities for them:
Supplemented income that minimally impacts their day-to-day life. They still go to work as normal and see friends regularly.
Opportunity to ‘live’ in some pretty sweet North Vancouver homes. Having access to a hot tub an sauna certainly doesn’t suck.
They get 4-legged companionship without the overhead of pet ownership which I think is a big one! Like my new neighbours, they want a puppy, but have recognized it’s not a responsible decision as this stage of their lives.
Essentially this dog sitting side gig has created flexibility for them at a point in their life where nothing is really fully decided yet.
I think to older generations, your side gigs might look a little inconsistent, disloyal or entitled. I disagree. I think they’re adaptive (I like the word adaptive when describing Gen Z. I think you’ll hear it often). This isn’t about your generation not committing to their career, it’s just a different way of committing that older generations aren’t used to.
Outside of affordability, there’s other layers to this gig economy we can’t ignore.
There’s also your identity. In Canada and other Western economies, a growing share of young workers report having multiple income streams not just because they need to, but because they don’t want their entire identity tied to one linear career path (and potentially employer).
My grandfather had a long and successful career in leadership and facility development, spending most of his working life with a rendering plant company. Like much of his generation, he is often remembered through the lens of that one employer and that one professional identity (so much so, that it was part of his eulogy). I knew him as much more than that. He was a pretty kick-ass guy and way more than just a job title. That said, it’s a reminder that for much of the last century, identity and career were tightly fused in a way (I hope) we’re slowly moving away from.
We also can’t leave AI out of this discussion. It’s entering the workforce at the exact moment your generation is trying to kick-off your careers and stabilize yourselves financially. Entry-level roles are already more competitive. Some are being automated and many are being restructured. The traditional “start here, work your way up” path is no longer as predictable as it once was.
Okay Zee, sorry about this, but it’s time for a bit of a buzz kill…
I have this fear that many gig workers in Canada are not fully aware of the tax implications of side income. Many digital platforms are only just being pulled into more formal reporting structures and the government is still catching up to the reality that millions of people are now effectively running micro-businesses.
Zee, if I can offer a piece of advice here. Keep your ear to the ground on the CRA. I was always told there’s only two certainties in life, death and taxes. If there’s one thing for certain, the government will figure out how to take a percentage of your side-gig income at some point.
Aaaand… on that optimistic note, I better sign-off now.