Dive Brief:

• Nearly half (49.2%) of employees have taken on a side hustle in addition to their full time jobs in recent months, with 43.9% of employees citing a potential economic downturn as a factor in their taking on other gigs and 8.13% saying they see the second jobs as a safety net in case they are laid off, according to Workhuman’s Human Workplace December Index Survey.
• About 62% of the 1,000 full-time U.S.-based employees surveyed revealed that they are concerned with their job security due to fears rooted in the current macroeconomic conditions. 
• At the same time, high worker demand and under-staffing in some industries and companies were cited as reasons that some employees are feeling secure within their current positions, the survey found.

Dive Insight:

With financial leaders confronting both the need to keep costs down as well as the strong labor market, learning to discern how to attract and keep workers as well as when and where to make the tough call to execute layoffs is a big-time stressor. 

The same economic headwinds that CFOs are facing — supply chain disruptions, inflation and fluctuations in foreign currency markets, for example — are also leading 61.8% of employees to feel insecure at their current jobs, according to the Workhuman survey. 

To mitigate those anxieties or make up for the rising cost of living, 49.2% of employees have taken on side hustles, the survey said. Looking to the year ahead, 47.7% of employees surveyed said that they have a goal of getting promoted or a raise and 32.1% said that they want to find a new job. 

In last month’s Workplace Index, half of employees said that they would be willing to jump ship from their current employer if they did not receive a wage increase. “With less expendable income at the ready, businesses will be more deliberate about providing raises and financial incentives for good performance,” said Scott Dussault, CFO of Workhuman in a previous interview with CFO Dive.

While fresh data Friday indicated the U.S. labor market remained strong, layoffs have continued to hit the tech sector and the Russ Porter, CFO of the Institute of Management Accountants, previously told CFO Dive that there could be more layoffs in other sectors as well in the coming weeks. 

Among the latest companies to announce cuts is DoorDash, with the food delivery app slashing its workforce by 6% in order to cut costs, according to Bloomberg. DoorDash joins Amazon, which announced plans to lay off as many as 10,000 workers across divisions, Peloton, which laid off thousands of employees this year, and Twitter, which recently slashed 50% of its workforce, Insider reported.