Shutdowns are driving federal workers to pick up side hustles

Terry Gerton You and your company, Indeed Flex, have just done a recent survey that showed nearly 40% of furloughed federal workers are seeking flexible jobs within two weeks. What does that tell us about the shutdown and how it’s reshaping financial reality for folks?

Novo Constare I think the reality of the shutdown is that it’s put a lot of people in severe financial hardship, where they’re struggling to pay key bills that matter to them, whether it be rent, energy, you name it. And we surveyed 1,000 adults, and as you mentioned, 40% of people were looking for extra work. However, when we did the survey, it’s been about three weeks now, and as we all know, I think yesterday marked that this is the longest shutdown ever. And at the moment it seems there’s no particular end in sight. And so that 40% may be a lot higher right now as the increasing financial burdens, because the shutdowns are just going to impact more and more people that are being affected.

Terry Gerton You found that many federal workers are turning to freelance platforms, gig apps and remote work, and that some said they plan to stick with it even after the shutdown ends. Do you see this as a long-term shift in mindset?

Novo Constare I think this is a continuous shift that’s been going on for quite some time, with the launch of many gig platforms, whether it be the likes of Uber or DoorDash, people have been migrating to gig work for the last sort of 10 years now, and it increased over COVID. And what we saw when the cost of living crisis kicked off, where inflation reached rampant levels, it impacted a lot of people’s wallets today, and whilst inflation has come down, things are still very, very expensive relative to what people’s wages have been. And so people are finding they’re having to supplement their income by any means necessary. And what flexible work does, what these gig apps do, it allows people to maintain their full-time job, but be able to pick up gigs, pick up work that fits around their work-life schedules to enable to earn more money. And I think for those in government work, they’ve probably historically felt they’re in very stable jobs, not very susceptible to the ups and downs of the global economy. And what this shutdown has shown is that actually things may be changing even for them. I think for many of the people surveyed, they said this shutdown felt different compared to other shutdowns in the past. And as we’ve seen, it’s the longest one on record and breaking that record every single day. And so I think they’re going to get that experience of leveraging flexible work and realizing it’s something that if it provides good pay and stability, that they’ll be looking to continue it on.

Terry Gerton You mentioned Uber and DoorDash as a couple of examples. Were there particular trends that you saw in the survey response about the kinds of flexible work that federal employees are looking for?

Novo Constare One thing that was interesting about the workers surveyed who were impacted by the shutdown, the sectors or the jobs they were looking to do as part of supplementing their income, they were jobs in administrative, clerical, customer service and call center work. So I guess these are jobs that they do for government already and sort of see an opportunity to transfer those skills that they already know into these other areas, versus saying, I will become an Uber driver overnight. So like, if they were looking for flexible work, that sort of suited or matched their current skill set, which is perfectly natural for anyone.

Terry Gerton Were there responses that indicated interest in things like writing or editing or strategic planning, augmentation, those kinds of things as well?

Novo Constare One thing popped up that was very consistent is nearly half of them, actually I think 43% of them were looking for sort of remote and freelance opportunities. So things that allow them to, things like virtual assistants or writing as you just said. So they can do those things from the confines of where they’re currently based and hopefully open themselves up to more opportunities across the entire U.S., versus being locked into wherever’s available to them locally.

Terry Gerton And it seems like that may be an opportunity to kind of build a broader employment network given the uncertainty of federal employment right now.

Novo Constare Exactly, 100%.

Terry Gerton I’m speaking with Novo Constare. He’s the CEO and co-founder of Indeed Flex. So let’s back up for a minute outside of the need to supplement their salaries. Federal employees face some pretty strict legal rules around outside employment. What sort of legal and ethical considerations should they be aware of before they take on a side gig?

Novo Constare So for those workers who pick up other jobs, they will generally not be eligible for unemployment benefits. And so there is a risk, depending on what they do, that the unemployment benefits they will be getting, having been furloughed by the government, they would lose access to. So there’s an element where they’ve got to understand the trade-off of what they potentially could be earning if they go pick up these side gigs, versus what they’re getting from unemployment benefits. So they have to be cautious in their approach and just like, it isn’t as simple as like, I’m picking up an unemployment benefit and I’m also just going to go pick up some seasonal work at the same time.

Terry Gerton That’s a really important consideration. And traditionally, federal jobs have been seen as very stable and very secure. You mentioned that early on. So how does the rise of this interest in side gigs challenge that narrative? What does it mean for agencies who want to retain talent? What does it mean for folks who are thinking about coming into the government? What do you see as the narrative there?

Novo Constare The thing for, so a lot, like 68% said they would return, after they returned to regular positions, they would still consider remaining in flexible and temporary work. However, there was a caveat with that. It would be if it was good pay, sufficient, and it was stable as well. So what we’ve learned in our business is the quickest way to lose a worker is not be able to buy them an opportunity when they need it, which is one of our strategic advantages in our product, is to be able to scale our platform and ensure we recruit enough workers to fulfill the needs of our customer, but not too many workers so that when workers need a job, there’s not enough jobs for them. And so for agencies out there, for ourselves, we’ve got to be constantly monitoring how consistent is the work we have available for workers, so that we retain them because they want to have stable and reliable pay.

Terry Gerton And so if federal workers are thinking about flexible work, what should they be looking for in terms of pay and in scheduling and compatibility with their primary job, assuming they’ve got clearance to engage?

Novo Constare For us, our core values is giving workers ownership, control and choice. And so we’re not the only platform out there, but the great thing about a platform like ours, it gives the workers complete visibility and transparency to the work that is available out there that meets their skills. And I think that’s super important because in some scenarios where you don’t have that visibility, you could be forced to take work that you otherwise wouldn’t take because it feels like there’s no other opportunities. So if you’re making this decision, make sure you’re looking to join an agency or a platform that gives you that ownership over so you can manage your schedule effectively. And look for other opportunities of like, it’s not just the work, it’s who gives you good access to your pay. We’ve got this initiative where we want to make sure people get paid as quickly as possible. So in some scenarios for certain jobs that you complete on our platform, you can get paid instantly, where you can clock in and clock out of your shift and get access to that pay immediately, which is super important. And I think for the government workers who are looking at these gig opportunities, it’s probably even extra important cause there’s no other income coming towards you right now. Having instant access to the money that you’ve earned is super important and it helps stave off utilizing loans and things of that nature.

Terry Gerton You’re obviously deeply engaged in the gig economy and supply and demand for gig workers. Do you see this interest from federal employees as a temporary blip related specifically to this shutdown circumstance, or do you think this is a longer-term structural shift? And what might that mean if it is?

Novo Constare I believe it’s a long-term structural shift. I believe that those who start to pick up some extra gigs through platforms or seasonal work will see how that flexibility can work around their schedule and they’ll utilize an opportunity to continue to supplement their core income from their permanent job, because the technology out there allows it to be more possible today. And then at the same time, I know companies who are struggling to manage budgets in uncertain macroeconomic conditions are looking to employ more flexible scheduling. And therefore their demand for these type of work is also increasing. So there’s a natural synergy there in terms of the flexibility and needs of the workforce and the need to earn extra money, and also the flexibility the employers need to be able to manage the scheduling of their labor.

Terry Gerton So you’re seeing this as a big part of the future labor market.

Novo Constare 100%, yes.