Post-COVID-19: EMP Convener calls for workplace policy on side-hustling

The Convener of the Employee MarketPlace, Nduneche Ezurike, has called on organizations to brace up to the challenges of a Post-COVID-19 workplace wherein side-hustling may become the new-normal amongst millennial employees.
Ezurike wrote on his LinkedIn handle, with the title: “Post COVID-19: A Brighter Future for Side-Hustlers (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/post-covid-19-brighter-future-side-hustlers-nduneche-ezurike-/)?”
He noted that one of the positive outcomes of the Post-COVID-19 workplace will be growth in the digital capability of many organisations on the one hand and the increased number of the side-hustling employees on the other hand.
He said: “Like every crisis era, the COVID-19 offers a spark that will readjust social behaviours and work relations in a way never anticipated by technology.”
He called this era a “tipping point” because the developments, though unintentional, have the likelihood of causing unanticipated but important changes.
Explaining the trend of side-hustling, the EMP Convener noted that it is a term common amongst the millennials.
It’s a flexible second job that offers something more than the 9am to 5pm formal pay.
He noted that the hustlers themselves see such jobs as an avenue to express their passion, keep out of trouble and boost their sense of self-autonomy and in the process earn supportive income.
He explained that before COVID-19, Uber driving was gaining traction as a side-hustle for most youths in formal employment.
Other popular side-hustles are e-commerce business, run-at-home bakery, catering, photography, freelance writing, clothes curating and gym instructing.
On how organisations should respond to this emerging trend, Ezurike advised them, especially medium to large enterprises, to acknowledge the reality of side-hustle as reflective of the experiences and expectations which the millennials have passed through in their generation.
In his words: “Most millennials witnessed first-hand the sore experiences of their parents whilst some were themselves victims of scarcity and lack in the midst of the rich few who command plenty.
“For this reason, they have grown with little faith in their country’s politics and economic system and thus believe that the bubble could burst at any time, hence one needs a side-hustle to hedge against the rainy day.”
He charged human resource practitioners to understand the times and quickly seek a policy shift that will make the work environment more permissible and compassionate beyond good wages.