Leverage the Gig Economy to Adapt to Evolving Employee Behavior

Employee participation in the gig economy has reached new highs, raising concerns about its impact on workplace culture. Specific concerns include employees becoming distracted, disengaged, and feeling less committed. While gigs pose certain challenges to companies, they may also be an opportunity to adapt to the shifting preferences of today’s workforce.

Today, more than a third of the working-age U.S. population participates in some form of gig work. For Gen Z, that number jumps to 57%. And while pay still matters, autonomy, variety, and growth opportunities are driving up these numbers even more.

The Evolution of the Side Hustle

In general, gigs involve short-term, project-based work. But not all gig work looks the same. Many take on short projects to earn supplemental income. Others freelance full time or use gigs to bridge between roles. Some take on multiple gigs as their primary sources of income.

Is This a Threat to Culture?

While gigs aren’t inherently harmful to the employee-employer relationship, they do carry some risk to engagement:

• Some staff are distracted or less engaged with multiple balls in the air.
• Ability to create part-time work will make some feel less tied down and quicker to leave.
• Staff may believe their current job isn’t building skills or advancing their career

Combined with declining loyalty measures, employers should pay attention. Only 18% of employees reported feeling satisfied at work in 2024, and 79% of employees share that they feel detached. Tenure has also declined over the past decade, dropping from an average of 4.6 years in 2014 to 3.9 years in 2024.

For many employees, skills and career development have been key drivers of this voluntary turnover, as they want to build skills and take on meaningful work that aligns with their goals. However, they don’t need to leave their full-time jobs to do so. Some companies are leaning into the gig model. Instead of treating it as something to compete with, they’re adopting it internally to let employees take on short-term projects, apply their strengths in new ways, and grow beyond their current roles.

A Closer Look at Internal Gig Systems

In-house gig systems:

• Encourage exploration of opportunities by letting employees join short-term projects across different parts of the organization
• Require minimal time commitment—just a few hours a week—so they don’t disrupt core responsibilities
• Support skill building by offering employees the chance to stretch into new areas and tap into excess capacity
• Strengthen career progression and loyalty by giving staff more ways to grow without leaving the company

See promising examples below: