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Gen Z's 6-figure side hustles should scare companies more than quiet quitting, Gary Vaynerchuk says: 'There's so many goddamn options for these kids to make money on the internet'

gary vaynerchuk at nba game
Gary Vaynerchuk attends Los Angeles Lakers game. NBAE / Getty Images

  • Gary Vaynerchuk said on TikTok companies needed to court Gen Z with better pay and growth potential.
  • He said Gen Z had more avenues than ever to make money with side hustles.
  • That dynamic is more dangerous for companies than the "quiet-quitting" trend, Vaynerchuk said.
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The entrepreneur and internet personality Gary Vaynerchuk thinks companies need to step up their game.  

He said as much in a recent TikTok video when asked about the "quiet-quitting" trend. Sometimes called "acting your wage," the concept involves doing your job as written for the pay you receive, and no more. It's a practice that's seemingly as old as employment itself but illuminates how workers are seeking better work-life balance and reshaping their vision of a 9-to-5.

Vaynerchuk, an early investor in companies like Facebook and Uber, said a focus on quiet quitting ignored the main problem for businesses: Young people can get paid better elsewhere, so they're "never applying in the first place."

"Companies are going to have a tough time getting people in for under $100K when there's so many goddamn options for these kids to make money on the internet," he said. 

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The mindset behind quiet quitting is the one that has fueled the "Great Resignation" and unionization organizing across the US over the past two years. Workers have continually voiced that they believe they deserve more — whether that involves better pay, better working conditions, or not spending extra hours of their workweek feeling like their time is being wasted

In particular, Gen Z, the oldest of whom are 25, is the generation most likely to switch jobs and land the biggest pay increases when they do, according to a report from the Bank of America Institute and data from LinkedIn provided to Insider's Madison Hoff in June. In a February survey of Gen Zers, for instance, 65% of respondents said they planned to leave their jobs this year. And 71% of 18- to 24-year-old remote workers in a Pew Research Center survey reported leaving their job or considering leaving it if they had to return to the office.

Even as the labor shortage starts to end, companies are vying for the attention of workers and express worry over the long-term effects of quiet quitting. But Vaynerchuk says it's misplaced anxiety.

He said younger people had more options than ever to make money "selling stuff on Facebook Marketplace or eBay, making Google Adwords, doing small brand deals on TikTok." This shift, Vaynerchuk said, makes working for less at a company unappealing.

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'These kids are not growing up in the world we grew up in' 

Not everybody can be an influencer, but it's true that making a lot of money via brand deals and sponsorships has become a reality for more young people thanks to platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Etsy, and Poshmark. 

More young people are working for themselves these days. In a March survey of 1,000 teenagers, about 60% of respondents said they were more interested in starting their own business than working a traditional job. And the US's independent workforce has risen 34% since 2020, a 2021 survey of 6,240 people by MBO Partners indicated, with younger workers and women making up a large share of the increase. 

"These kids are not growing up in the world we grew up in," Vaynerchuk said. "We shit on Gen Z for being entitled and lazy, and what they're being is thoughtfully understanding of their options." 

Vaynerchuk points out the unique position that Gen Z holds in terms of online earnings, even as their general financial straits pose a contradiction. They have more student debt on average than millennials, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, even though millennials still make up the bulk of student borrowers. Gen Z also has less of a savings cushion to expect for retirement than older generations. One Bank of America Research report found that the pandemic would affect Gen Z's financial and professional future in a similar way to how the Great Recession influenced millennials.

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At the same time, Gen Z sets trends in everything from consumer habits to working habits. Vaynerchuk said that the youngest-adult generation was milking that for all it's worth and that it's up to businesses to keep up with them. 

"We as companies are going to have to come up with concepts that enable these youngsters to make a bet worth taking," he said. 

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