Katria Farmer has never felt at home in a traditional office. Even during a graduate school internship, she remembers it feeling “wrong and stifling.”
“I was sure I would die early if I had to stay with that lifestyle,” she says.
Farmer isn’t alone in looking for another way. Nearly half of American workers — 47% — now earn money from multiple gig economy jobs or side hustles. For many, it’s about survival: more than half say the extra income is essential to cover basic expenses. For others, it’s about freedom and flexibility — choosing when to work, who to work with, and how much to take on.
Farmer juggles a mix of roles: she co-founded Little Dipper Interactive, an indie game studio, streams her creative sessions on Twitch, freelances as a designer, and keeps a part-time job as a legal assistant. “It’s a heavy load — and my doctor would probably tell me I’m short on sleep — but I love what I’m doing,” she says.
Her story captures the paradox millions are living with. Multi-gig work promises independence and creativity, but it can also mean exhaustion, unstable pay, and stalled careers.
This is the Freedom Trap — and understanding it is the first step to avoiding it.
The New Shape of Work
Working more than one job isn’t new — it used to be called “moonlighting.” But in 2025, it’s more often described as “polyworking” or building a “portfolio career.” Whatever the name, it means juggling two or more income streams at the same time.
For many, those streams can look very different. Some workers combine a steady W-2 paycheck with late-night gig app shifts. Other workers piece things together through part-time jobs, freelance projects, or online sales. DollarSprout’s 2024 Side Hustle Survey found the most common hustles are online surveys (73%), selling goods (39%), freelance work (30%), and ride-sharing or delivery apps (23%).
The pull of extra income is strong: nearly 70% of Americans now say they maintain a side hustle. Social media adds fuel, glamorizing multi-job life as a badge of ambition and independence. But that identity shift has a cost. What’s billed as a carefully curated “portfolio career” can just as easily become a portfolio of instability. The same entrepreneurial spirit that feels empowering today may make it harder to re-enter structured employment tomorrow.
Why Everyone’s Hustling Harder
So why are so many Americans stacking jobs and side hustles? In short: money and freedom.
Kelsey Szamet, an employment attorney with Kingsley Szamet Employment Lawyers, says she’s had a “front row seat” to the rise of the gig economy. “Gig work has continued to appeal because of an interlocking system of perceived flexibility and economic need,” she explains. Rising costs force people to look for extra income, but they don’t necessarily want to clock into another traditional job. “Laboring and only getting paid when and if they wish to join the workforce has some draw,” she adds.
The financial pressures are clear. Consumer prices are up 24% from pre-pandemic levels, according to Bankrate’s analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.[1] Inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, leaving many households scrambling to cover housing, childcare, and healthcare. Some parents take on extra jobs just to cover daycare, while others turn to gig platforms that make it easier to earn from home.
A Monster survey found the top motivations for polyworking include:
- Covering basic living expenses (68%)
- Seeking financial independence and flexibility (47%)
- Paying down debt (46%)
- Building a safety net against job loss (34%)[2]
But not all motivations are strictly financial. Some workers use gigs to test new careers or expand their skills. For others, the pull is independence itself.
Take Eva Kirie, for example. She walked away from a marketing job that left her drained and built her own blend of gigs. These days, she manages social media for clients around New York City and creates content for an audience of more than 40,000 followers.
“I needed flexibility,” she remembers. “I needed to determine my own pay. I needed to be creative without someone’s approval and control.”
Kirie says the move has given her peace of mind and control over her time. She’s hardly unique — plenty of workers lean on gig income to knock out debt, save for big goals, or fund side projects that don’t fit neatly into a 9-to-5.
But the same independence Kirie prizes comes with hidden trade-offs: constant client churn, income tied to fickle algorithms, and the risk of slower long-term career growth.
That’s the Freedom Trap in action — the wins are real, but they rarely last without a plan.
Related: How These Two Gamers Built a $140K Tabletop Accessories Brand
The Hidden Costs of Juggling Multiple Jobs
Gig work has real appeal. Extra income helps with bills, flexible hours make it easier to manage family life, and side projects open up creative outlets that most day jobs don’t. For many people, that’s the draw when they first pick up a second gig.
But freedom comes with a bill — and for many workers, it’s steep. Nearly 70% of respondents to a SideHustles.com survey said their extra gigs were causing burnout.[3] But those gains come with trade-offs: irregular paychecks, constant paperwork, and even the pressure of staying visible on platforms. What begins as flexibility can quickly snowball into obligations that wipe out free time.
And the challenges don’t stop at exhaustion. Szamet warns that those who swap a primary job for multiple gigs may not get the economic boost they expect. Gig workers often lack wage growth tied to inflation, steady paychecks, or employee benefits. They also miss out on legal protections like paid sick leave and unemployment insurance, leaving them in a state of ongoing financial uncertainty.
Getting out of the gig economy isn’t always simple. Side hustles build useful skills — time management, adaptability, entrepreneurship — but those don’t always line up with what traditional employers want. Companies still put weight on things like communication, organization, and teamwork. And after years of independence, many gig workers struggle to adjust to the rigid schedules of corporate jobs.
That transition is made harder by the loss of professional networks. And without colleagues, mentors, or in-house connections, finding a way back into traditional employment can feel like an uphill climb.
That’s why the gig economy can feel like a false promise — it starts with freedom but can end up feeling like a cage that’s tough to break out of.
Related: The Side Hustle You Haven’t Tried Might Be… a W-2 Job
The Future of Multi-Gig Work and the Gig Economy
If the gig economy keeps growing, workers will need to adapt just as quickly — or risk getting stuck. Turning a patchwork of gigs into a sustainable career means planning ahead, especially as side hustle tax rules and regulations evolve.
The Department of Labor recently signaled that gig workers will continue to be treated as independent contractors, not employees — a reminder that benefits like paid sick leave and unemployment insurance are still out of reach for most.
Szamet advises workers to treat their side hustles as skill-building opportunities rather than permanent solutions. “To convert gig work into better-value jobs, the workers need to utilize transferable skills like customer service, time management, and internet skills, and [they should] find means of formalizing the skills via certification or training programs,” she says.
That kind of planning is what sets workers like Katria Farmer apart. Farmer doesn’t see gig work as the finish line — she treats it as a stepping stone toward her bigger goals as a game designer and artist. “At the end of the day, I’ve built something I’m proud of,” she says. “It feels much different when you’re clocking in to build up someone else’s legacy.”
For Farmer, gigs create the space to build her own career on her own terms. But not everyone is working as strategically. For those who simply stack jobs without a plan, freedom can quickly give way to instability — and the gig economy can become a trap as confining as the 9-to-5 many workers tried to escape.
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