Around 15% of Both Gen Z and Millennials Have Side Jobs, with Gen Z More Likely to Find Them via Social Media

Boku to Watashi to Inc., a planning and Emo Marketing® company focused on Gen Z, conducted a survey of 7,000 working adults from Gen Z and Millennials about attitudes toward side jobs. As Japan continues to promote side work at the policy level, including support for local government employees taking on side jobs in 2025 and revisions to the national civil servant side-job system scheduled for April 2026, the survey explored how younger generations actually approach side work. The survey found that just over 15% of both Gen Z and Millennials are currently doing side jobs. Including those who previously had side jobs but no longer do, about 30% of each generation has side-job experience, with no major generational gap. Side-job categories were diverse across both generations, including sales and customer service, social media, video, livestreaming and creative work, administrative work, document creation and data entry, as well as flea-market apps, e-commerce and handmade product sales. By generation, Gen Z showed a relatively higher share in public or community-related work, while Millennials had a higher share in medical and welfare-related work. Monthly side-job income was most commonly under 30,000 yen for both generations. Combined with those earning between 30,000 and under 50,000 yen per month, more than half earned under 50,000 yen monthly from side work. However, among Millennials, 24.8% earned between 50,000 and under 100,000 yen per month, five percentage points higher than Gen Z, suggesting a wider income range among Millennials. Among respondents who had stopped doing side jobs, the most common reason for both generations was that their main job was too busy and they did not have time to continue. For Gen Z, the second most common reason was that the income was too low for the effort involved, reflecting a strong awareness of time performance. For Millennials, the second most common reason was physical burden, suggesting that life stage affects the challenges of continuing side work. When asked how they found side jobs, Millennials most commonly used spot-work or one-off part-time job services (30.4%), followed by job sites and part-time job information services (26.3%). In contrast, Gen Z most commonly used social media (25.4%), suggesting that social platforms are an important gateway for side-job opportunities among Gen Z. When asked what they were glad about after doing side jobs, Millennials most often cited increased income (33.6%). Gen Z also ranked increased income first (22.4%), but the gap with other answers was smaller. Many also cited gaining experience outside their main job (19.3%), discovering new career possibilities (18.1%), and understanding suitable jobs or work styles for themselves (18.1%). This indicates that Gen Z sees side jobs not only as a source of income, but also as a way to better understand themselves and explore career options. The survey, titled “A Survey on Attitudes Toward Side Jobs Among Gen Z and Millennials,” targeted working adults aged 22 to 29 for Gen Z and 30 to 40 for Millennials. It was conducted online from April 10 to 13, 2026, and collected 7,000 valid responses. When citing the survey, the source should be credited as “Boku to Watashi to.”