Express Employment Professionals’ America Employed and Canada Employed series explore the state of employment in North America, including everything from hiring expectations and HR challenges to job seekers’ optimism and shrinking the skills gap. Learn about the latest insights uncovered in a recent Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll survey.
Job seekers in the U.S. and Canada admit to working side hustles on company time, yet half of companies have no code of conduct or policies prohibiting it. Most job seekers believe employees should be allowed to pursue side gigs during work hours, as long as it doesn’t affect their productivity at their primary job. Gen Z and millennials are more likely than Gen X or boomer/seniors to agree with this sentiment.
In the U.S., job seekers most commonly cited working a side hustle or gig during company time to earn extra money for expenses (61%) or increase savings (51%).
According to the survey:
- 32% of job seekers work a side hustle to learn new skills they can use at their other job
- 36% of employed job seekers report their company’s code of conduct or policies prohibit working more than one job on company time, and 22% are unsure if their company’s code of conduct or policies prohibit it
- 47% would likely work a side hustle on company time if they thought they could get away with it
Most companies in Canada that discover an employee is working a side hustle on company time take some kind of action (61%). And 29% of companies have updated their policies to try to prevent employees from working side hustles during company time.
The survey revealed:
- 49% of companies do not have a code of conduct or policies that prohibit employees working side hustles
- 52% of job seekers think companies should simply request that these employees limit their side hustles to outside work hours
- 51% of companies have discovered employees working side hustles on company time
Read more about the latest employment insights in America Employed at ExpressPros.com and Canada Employed at ExpressPros.com/CA.
Last Updated on October 11, 2024
