side hustle

Definition

A secondary job or income stream employees pursue outside their primary employment, ranging from Uber driving to freelance consulting. It's what used to be called 'having two jobs' before we rebranded poverty as entrepreneurship.

Example Usage

Half my team has side hustles because our salaries haven't kept pace with inflation for five years running.

Origin

African American slang from the 1950s, entering mainstream vocabulary in the 2010s gig economy boom

Fun Fact

A 2023 survey found that 45% of Americans have a side hustle, with many earning more from their 'side' work than their primary jobs, raising existential questions about which job is actually the side hustle.

Source: Gig economy and modern workplace terminology

Related Terms

Intermediate

performance improvement plan

A formal document outlining performance deficiencies and required improvements, theoretically offering support but practically serving as termination paperwork. The corporate 'we need to talk' that never ends well.

👥 Human Resources

Advanced

banding

Grouping similar jobs into broad pay grades rather than individual job-specific ranges. It reduces administrative complexity while somehow making salary decisions even more arbitrary.

👥 Human Resources

Intermediate

seagull manager

A manager who swoops in unexpectedly, makes a lot of noise, dumps on everything, and flies away leaving others to clean up the mess. They're absent until there's a crisis, then arrive to criticize without context or solutions.

👥 Human Resources

Intermediate

mediated

The act of stepping into the middle of a conflict to resolve differences, ideally before lawyers get involved or someone updates their LinkedIn status to "It's complicated." Professional mediators facilitate settlements by getting both sides to actually listen to each other—a skill apparently so rare it requires certification. It's diplomacy with a process, and yes, someone's getting paid for it.

👥 Human Resources

Intermediate

dead wood

Long-tenured employees who no longer contribute effectively but are difficult to remove due to organizational inertia or legal protections. They're the human equivalent of that clutter you keep meaning to throw out but never do.

👥 Human Resources

Beginner

desk rejection

Immediately disqualifying a candidate without serious consideration, usually based on obvious disqualifying factors or minimum requirements. It's the HR equivalent of swiping left.

👥 Human Resources

Translate This Term

See “side hustle” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

Try the Translator

Share This Term

Post on X Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn

Discover a Term

Beginner

Yapping

Talking excessively about nothing in particular, going on and on without reaching a point. Everyone has a friend who yap...