Government Workers Seek Side Gigs Amid Ongoing Shutdown

Federal employees are increasingly turning to side gigs amid ongoing layoffs and a government shutdown.

That’s according to a report Monday (Oct. 13) from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which offers up the example of Sharon Perrone, a former scientist for the Agriculture Department.

Since taking a deferred resignation offer in April, she has worked at farmers markets, sold merchandise at concerts, helped with a handbook on Alaskan farming and done graphic design work, largely for other federal workers launching their own businesses.

“I got to use all different parts of my brain,” said Perrone, who last week started a full-time position that utilizes her doctorate in soil science.

The report notes that more than 3% of employed Americans worked for online platforms like Uber or DoorDash in 2022, compared to less 1% in 2017, according to an analysis of federal tax data from economists such as Dmitri Koustas of the University of Chicago.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, government workers were among those least likely to pick up such side gigs, that research found.

But that could be changing as many furloughed employees have extra time and are concerned about whether they’ll get back pay. The Trump administration has said that some federal workers may not be guaranteed back pay, though it is required by law. Republican congressional leaders have said the employees will be owed back pay.

“It’s a rational response, not just for government workers but for anybody facing instability, to look for short-term sources of income,” Koustas told the WSJ.

And that group now includes a notable portion of Americans, according to research by PYMNTS Intelligence from the report “Do the (Side) Hustle: Four in 10 US Consumers Seize the Opportunity to Earn More Income.”

That report found that more than 40% of consumers now pick up extra income beyond traditional employment, effectively turning side hustles into a financial mainstay rather than a niche activity. This proportion climbs significantly among people who are already struggling to live paycheck to paycheck.

“The scale of this recent shift is striking. The extra dollars aren’t just for minor discretionary spending; on average, they constitute a substantial 43% of a hustler’s total income,” PYMNTS wrote in May. “For many Americans, side work is not just nice-to-have extra money, but foundational to their financial lives.”

In the closing months of 2024, the number of U.S. workers performing more than one traditional job jumped to nearly 5.3% of the entire workforce, that report added, citing Labor Department data. That was the highest percentage in five years and a level not seen since the Great Recession.