In her 20s, Kaila Curry’s career was on an upward spiral. From working at ByteDance’s now-defunct TopBuzz to landing a role at Meta, it seemed like bright days — and a bigger paycheck – were inevitable.
But then came 2025’s mass layoffs. Curry lost her position at Meta, putting her career prospects on pause.
Although Curry found part-time work writing for Yahoo, she decided to take on a side gig to earn extra income while continuing her job search. During the warm season, Brooklyn residents can find Curry scooping ice cream at Lady Moo Moo.
Given the nature of this seasonal work and the $16.50 per hour pay, Curry said she “expected to be working alongside teenagers” when she took on this role. To her surprise, many of the people working for the Bed-Stuy neighborhood parlor were highly accomplished professionals just like herself, trying to survive in today’s unpredictable job market.
In a piece for CNBC Make It (1), Curry wrote that her coworkers were “artists, teachers, nonprofit workers, tech employees, museum curators and neighbors doing their best to make life work in a difficult economy.”
Although Curry says she’d love to return to a full-time career in journalism or content management, she’s found “steadiness in a community that held me up” by serving frozen treats to hungry customers.
Stories like Curry’s highlight how shaky the labor market was in 2025, particularly in sectors like tech that have a heavy exposure to artificial technology.
In November of last year, overall unemployment hit 4.6%, a level it hasn’t been at since September 2021 (2).
Researchers at outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas also found that overall job cuts in 2025 surpassed 1.2 million. In the private sector, technology posted the highest number of layoffs in 2025, with 154,445 job cuts (3).
Unsurprisingly, these numbers have led to less fluidity in the labor market as people opt to keep their jobs rather than seek new opportunities (aka “job hugging”). According to data from Monster.com, 75% of Americans plan to stay in their current role at least until 2027, and 48% say they’re doing so only for a sense of comfort, security or stability rather than job satisfaction (4).
Data from the Federal Reserve confirms this finding with a job quits rate of just 2% in November 2025 (5). This number has been steadily declining from its high of 3% in March of 2022, signaling that fewer workers feel confident they could find a better job if they voluntarily left.
For those who lost their jobs or are struggling to get by due to rising living costs, side hustles are increasingly attractive options.
According to a survey by the fintech company Self, 45% of Americans have at least one side hustle, and 34.2% say they need this extra income to cover essential living expenses (6).
Although side gigs can serve as a financial lifeline for people in situations like Curry’s, their rise shows how workers need to be extra prepared in today’s labor market.
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When people are under financial strain, side hustles often step in to provide a sense of control and cover expenses like rent and groceries.
In Curry’s case, picking up work at Lady Moo Moo also provided two powerful, intangible benefits: sense of community and purpose. Research consistently shows that social support is crucial for mental well-being when going through unemployment (7), (8), and it’s arguably just as important as earning that extra cash.
That said, side gigs aren’t a silver bullet. They can be unpredictable, lack benefits and quietly lead to burnout if you’re juggling them alongside other roles or an active job search.
Gig income can also complicate unemployment benefits, depending on how much you earn and how your state classifies that work.
So, in most cases, it’s best to think of side hustles as a bridge — not a destination. In other words, a side hustle buys time while you regroup and look for a new opportunity.
However you fit side hustles into your schedule, careful budgeting can help you get the most out of this additional income. As a simple rule of thumb: don’t treat cash from a side hustle like “found money.” Instead, decide upfront what its job is to get the most value out of it.
For example, anyone with high-interest debt should consider sending most of their money toward paying these down to free up their long-term cash flow.
You could also use your side hustle income to shore up your emergency fund (ideally 3 to 6 months of expenses). Be sure to stash any of these savings in a high-yield savings account to get above-average interest rates and still enjoy FDIC protection.
For those in a stronger financial position, you might want to put your side hustle money to work in the form of long-term investment contributions, or career investments, such as courses or certifications. You could also consider spending some money to attend special events or job networking workshops if you feel they’ll increase your connections and potentially lead to a full-time position.
To avoid burning out in this process, be sure to set clear earnings goals from the start, and regularly reassess whether the tradeoffs make sense. If a side gig is draining you or stalling your career momentum, it may not be worth the extra time and effort.
For the best results, use side income as strategically as possible to support your broader financial goals. Ideally, side hustles should help you move forward on your journey toward more stability and financial freedom, not just survive month to month.
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
CNBC (1); Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (2), (5); Challenger, Gray & Christmas (3); Monster.com (4); Self (6); National Library of Medicine (7); ScienceDirect (8)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
