Overview:
More than half of Gen Z has a side hustle. In Colorado, students say gig work is more of a necessity than an option.
Serenity Sisneros works four jobs while attending college full-time, a reality that feels far from what she imagined as a kid.
“My mom was always like, you can be whatever you want; you can be an astronaut and you can be a princess at the same time,” Sisneros said. “Instead, I work at a restaurant, and I edit, and I do data analytics and I work at The Vault (a CU Boulder equipment checkout center) all at the same time.”
Across Colorado and the country, Sisneros’ experience is becoming the norm.
More than half of Gen Z — 57% — report having a side hustle, according to a 2025 Fortune-Harris Poll. Many young workers no longer see a traditional 9-to-5 job as essential to financial success, with 51% saying they rely on side work or alternative income streams. At the same time, 68% say they wouldn’t pursue management roles if not for the pay or title, reflecting a shift in how younger workers define career success.
For some, side hustles offer flexibility or creative fulfillment. Others rely on them simply to survive in order to keep up with rising living costs because they are unable to find work in their desired fields.
“The labor market for young people has particularly weakened in the recent years,” said Richard Mansfield, a labor economist at the University of Colorado Boulder. “Young college graduates looking for work that matches their skills have had a hard time finding jobs with meaningful career paths.”
In practice, this means fewer clear entry points into traditional careers and more young workers filling the gap with gig work, which may not align with their long-term goals but will keep them afloat.
Sisneros commutes an hour each way from Fort Lupton to Boulder and pays for her own tuition, car and living expenses, working multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet. One of her jobs is an online, asynchronous data entry position for the University of Colorado Boulder’s anthropology department.
“This is a job that I can do in between classes,” Sisneros said. “I can do it at night in my room. If I have a couple extra minutes here and there, I can do it.”
Still, the schedule takes a toll. “Finding a time to eat sometimes is hard,” Sisneros said. “Having time to spend with friends and family and having a social life — sometimes it’s a little hard, but ultimately it’s necessary for the life that I live.”
For recent graduates such as Sally Webster, gig work served as a bridge between college and a stable career. After graduating last May, Webster looked for work in law and politics but found few options. To cover basic expenses, Webster continued working as a server while also taking on dog-walking and pet sitting jobs.
“I was able to cover all of my basic expenses with the side gigs, at the very least,” Webster said. “Like rent, bills, food, whatever.”
Her days often stretched across multiple jobs.
“When I did work a full shift serving, I would take my lunch break and go walk the dogs for my main client,” Webster said. “So I would usually do dog walks every single day.”
The system worked — until it didn’t. When Webster got sick and lost shifts, she had to rely on savings.
“In circumstances like that, where less was coming in than I had expected,” Webster said. “I would then have to dip into my savings.”
Even for students with more flexibility, gig work is shaping how they approach careers. Julia Wolfe, a CU Boulder student, left her barista job after realizing it was taking time away from school and social life. Now she relies on dog walking, pet sitting and freelance photography.
“I love what I study, so that’s obviously not going to be the thing that goes,” Wolfe said. “I just wanted to be able to go out and have fun and also do well in school.”
The appeal is control over her schedule and, in her case, enjoyment.
“It’s still weird to me that I get paid because it betters my life,” Wolfe said. “It feels like I’m not only just getting the money out of it.”
Mansfield said that while gig work doesn’t always lead directly to careers, it can still provide value.
“If you find the process enjoyable, it almost becomes a way of spending your leisure time that also has the side benefit of giving you a little money that allows you to continue to search for other jobs,” Mansfield said. “So I’m not sure it’s such a bad thing if many of these side hustles never make a lot of money, as long as they’re not onerous.”
Not all side hustles come from financial pressure. For some students, gig work offers a way to explore creative interests or build skills outside of traditional jobs.
Ella Haun, a CU Boulder senior, balances two gigs and an internship alongside school. One of those gigs — a small clothing business called Love You More — is a creative outlet built from thrifted materials.
“There’s really not a lot of pressure behind it,” Haun said. “If I’m not making money, it’s okay because I still love to do it.”
But she’s quick to acknowledge that her situation is not universal.
“A lot of Gen Z don’t have that same privilege,” she said. “They do a lot of these side hustles out of complete necessity just to get by.”
Among Sisneros’ peers, working multiple jobs is common. And she expects it will continue even after graduation.
“All the people that I’ve talked to who are in the workforce and who are doing all the stuff in the job market,” Sisneros said. “They’ve also had to do the same thing, so I definitely don’t feel alone in that, but I don’t expect that I’m going to get a job right out of college.”
Webster, who recently landed a full-time job in auto insurance, considers herself fortunate. Many of her classmates are still piecing together income through gig work.
“Many of the people I graduated with, super hardworking, really great students, haven’t landed stable jobs,” Webster said. “Even people I know who have worked many internships and are doing everything they can, it’s just not enough.”
For many young people, the gig economy is no longer a side option. It’s the foundation.
“It can be really hard, going from thing to thing to thing, especially if you’re working like two plus side hustles at once,” Webster said. “If you don’t have financial support at your age, and if your career’s in high demand, you just have to do what you have to do.”
