More Americans are turning to side hustles to boost their savings and financial security in the face of a looming recession.
Some 40% of Americans are dabbling in a side hustle, up from one-third (34%) of Americans who had one in 2020, according to a May 2022 Zapier survey of 2,032 U.S. adults.
While taking on a second job might seem intimidating or time-consuming, Zapier found that Americans spend an average of 13.4 hours each week on their side hustle — and 44% spend less than 10 hours a week working their extra gig.
The rise of remote work over the past two-plus years has also created more opportunities for people to find flexible, high-paying side hustles they can do from home.
To help people interested in pursuing a side hustle find the best remote opportunities, FlexJobs has identified 25 in-demand side hustles that can be done from home, based on thousands of listings in their database. These jobs have dozens of active listings and offer remote, part-time opportunities.
Before diving into the world of side hustles, Side Hustle Nation founder Nick Loper suggests doing a self-audit to determine how much free time you have to dedicate to a side hustle and which transferable skills could make you a competitive candidate, whether it’s video editing, writing, coding or project management.
FlexJobs highlighted computer & IT, HR & recruiting, editing, writing, proofreading and accounting & finance as fields offering a ton of remote freelance and gig opportunities right now.
Loper recommends testing any side hustle for 90 days before committing to it in the long-term. “You want to adopt an experimenter’s mindset and say, ‘I’m going to give this a shot, see what happens and evaluate the results,’” he says. “And if it doesn’t work out, go back to the drawing board and be open to trying something else.”
The right side hustle should help you exercise a different part of your brain or monetize an existing passion, Loper says, noting that his wife, who is an engineer, has a side hustle as a wedding and family photographer. “It’s a creative outlet that she really enjoys,” he says.
Having a side hustle can also make you better at your job, Loper says, as it forces you to adopt a “proactive, hustler mindset” and be active on improving your professional skills outside of your 9 to 5. “Even if you’re on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder, side hustles give you the chance to call the shots at work, to play CEO on nights and weekends,” he says. “It’s an invaluable experience.”