Employment trends from the USA and, in particular Silicon Valley, have seen an increase in employees having ‘hustle’ jobs, but have UK businesses embraced this rapidly increasing phenomenon.

More and more people are earning extra money by having ‘hustle’ jobs, such as online tutoring, taxi driving (like Uber) or flipping (reselling items through eBay, Amazon and the like), to pay off debt or just improve finances. According to the Henley Business School, one in four workers in the UK have a ‘side-hustle’ and this figure is expected to rise by an amazing 50% by 2030.

Currently, many businesses do not have a policy on side-working and most are indifferent to it. Employers often do not have a problem with staff taking on a second ‘job’ as long as it is not competing with them and does not interfere with their regular job. However, have they looked at more than their Contracts of Employment and policies to see the advantages. Clearly, there needs to be some kind of rules, but does the workplace culture need to be reviewed too. 

Do job interviews embrace the skills that these entrepreneurial individuals could bring to their workplace? Perhaps a candidate who gives maths tutoring in the evening might be a useful addition to the finance team. Does an exceptional employee who shows entrepreneurial skills need nurturing and training? Organisations who do not see that new or existing employees are looking for more flexibility, more money and the ability to learn or use new skills are more likely to lose their best employees or fail to recruit their ideal ones. A change of business culture and flexibility would be to the Company’s advantage, especially when it costs on average around £5,000 and a vast amount of time to recruit a new employee.

Coppice HR (www.coppicehr.com) will look at your Employee Handbooks and Contracts of Employment to review policies, but will also give you solutions to changing the business culture and embracing changes in the workplace. Please contact us on paul@coppicehr.com or 07814 008478 to discuss further.

Inspired by: Embracing Side-Hustle Jobs – HR Grapevine and Best Side Hustle Jobs – The Balance