Side hustles, overemployment, job-switching: Increasing your income isn't always worth it – Business Insider

Whether you’re struggling financially or just trying to get ahead, it can feel like there are more ways than ever to bolster your bank account.
You could try a wide variety of side hustles, including ride-hailing, food delivery, dog walking, reselling, taking surveys, babysitting, transcribing, tutoring, and car-sharing. You could also look for a part-time gig — or if you’re a remote worker who’s up for the task — try to secretly work multiple jobs simultaneously.
Or, if you don’t think you’re current job pays enough, you could start applying for higher-paying roles elsewhere.
Of course, some of these options aren’t accessible to everyone. You can’t drive for Uber if you don’t have a car, you can’t work a second job if you don’t have the time, and it’s hard to switch jobs when your industry isn’t hiring.
But if your New Year’s resolution was to increase your income this year — and not just rely on a possible annual salary bump to do so — there are plenty of ways to accomplish this goal.
Even a relatively modest income boost could have significant benefits, at least if you ask Americans. In a survey conducted last August of over 2,000 US adults — by Harris Poll for the financial services company Empower — respondents earning less than $150,000 a year said they’d need to earn roughly $20,000 more to feel happier.
The problem, however, is that boosting one’s income might not always be worth it. Some side hustles come with a significant time investment and unpredictable pay. Working multiple jobs can lead to burnout. And some job-switchers eventually come to the realization that the grass isn’t greener at their new employer.
Driving for Uber or Lyft has provided millions of Americans with supplemental income. All a registered driver has to do is get in their car, turn on their ride-hailing app, accept and complete a trip, and boom — they’ve just boosted their monthly earnings.
But when drivers examine their profits, the gig isn’t always as lucrative as it initially seems.
Genesis, a former Uber and Lyft driver in Atlanta, made $103,000 in gross earnings from ride-hailing in 2022, she previously told Business Insider. But she took home just $19,000 after accounting for Uber and Lyft’s commissions, taxes, car maintenance expenses, and gas. So she decided to quit driving.
For someone who desires a higher income, some profits might be better than no profits. But when drivers account for the hours they put in, it can raise more questions about whether their gig is worth their time.
In February, Lyft said the typical US driver earns about $23 per active hour after driving expenses. But active hours only include the time between when drivers accept and complete a trip — not the time they spend filling up their gas tanks or relocating to an area where rider demand is greater.
After accounting for drivers’ total working time, a new study commissioned by the state of Minnesota found that Twin Cities drivers earned $13.63 per hour after driving expenses.
Not all side hustles come with the time investment that ride-hailing does. But everyone with a side gig is faced with the same question: Are the extra working hours worth the financial reward?
Taking on extra work can offer predictable income that side hustles often can’t. As of February, over 4.8 million Americans had a part-time job in addition to their full-time roles, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — 386,000 had two full-time jobs.
The payoff from this extra work can be huge, but working longer hours can sometimes lead to burnout. There’s arguably no better example of this tradeoff than the “overemployed.”
Over the last year, Business Insider has interviewed several people who have secretly worked multiple remote jobs. Most of them worked between two and three jobs and brought in between $100,000 and $500,000 a year in total income. They put their extra money toward mortgage payments, retirement savings, and lavish vacations.
But despite the massive financial rewards, many of them said overemployment had taken a mental toll.
In 2022, a Texas-based tech worker earned over $500,000 across four roles, according to documents viewed by Business Insider. But he said he found himself thinking about his jobs even when he wasn’t working — leaving him little time to relax — and that his household responsibilities began to pile up. Taking steps to avoid suspicion during the workday also proved to be stressful.
Only eight months after he started, he resigned from his two extra roles and decided to stop job-juggling for the time being.
“I did end up getting burned out,” he said, adding that quitting both jobs allowed him to spend more time with his family and travel.
While most workers with an additional job aren’t going the lengths of the overemployed, they’re all faced with the same question: Are the extra working hours worth the financial reward?
In recent years, job-switching has allowed many Americans to boost their incomes. Between February 2023 and 2024, the typical person who changed jobs saw their wages rise 5.9%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The typical person who remained in the same roles during this period received a 5.1% pay bump.
But some people have come to regret their job changes. In a 2022 study, LinkedIn found that workers who started new jobs in the prior year were over 6% more likely to have been in their prior roles for less than a year. This suggests that many people who changed jobs were not satisfied, leading them to switch roles again.
A 2022 Harris Poll survey of 2,000 US adults found that 20% of people who switched jobs over the prior two years regretted their decision.
Changing roles isn’t as easy as it was a few years ago — job openings have fallen from record highs. But as of January, there were still over eight million job openings — above pre-pandemic levels — and over three million Americans quit their jobs — slightly below pre-pandemic levels. As the Atlanta Fed data shows, job switching can still provide a relatively quick way to boost one’s earnings.
But all prospective job-switchers are faced with the same question: Are the uncertainties that come with a new job worth the financial reward?
Are you working multiple jobs at the same time and willing to discuss details about your pay and schedule? If so, reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@insider.com.
Advertisement
POPULAR CATEGORIES
Copyright © 2023. Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.For reprint rights. Times Syndication Service.

source