1. Introduction
In recent years, the gig economy, which is based on the sharing economy, has gradually grown with the innovation of Internet technology. McKinsey, a well-known business consulting firm in the United States, wrote a research report to predict future employment trends; it proposed that “the future career trend is the gig economy” and predicted that the total annual revenues of the global gig economy will be as high as USD 1.5 trillion by 2030. The rise of the gig economy led to the demise of the standard employment relationship and an increase in a wide range of non-standard employment relations [
1,
2,
3]. In this new context, various terms have emerged, such as multiple job holding, moonlighting, side hustle, and part-time job. They represent a similar meaning. However, as the gig economy sweeps the world, side hustle has become the more popular term as it more closely relates to the burgeoning gig economy [
4,
5,
6]. Hence, we mainly use the term side hustle to conduct our research. However, as we refer to the relevant literature, other terms will occasionally appear below. Experts estimate that between 5% and 35% of the working population in the United States juggles multiple jobs [
7]. Approximately 10.5% of British workers in Britain hold second jobs [
8].
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated such a process because side hustles are more needed in this period [
9]. The abovementioned details indicate that the gig economy is prosperous, and non-standard employment relations in the gig economy are bound to become a hot topic in human resource management and continue for a long time. In China, the gig economy is also flourishing. According to the China County Gig Economy Survey Report in 2019, the number of people with gig income in the county market reached 52.27%, among which there were both main business income and gig income, accounting for 24.72% of the total. The report also shows that more than 90% of county users are willing to engage in a side hustle. Thus, the development trend of the new occupation of the side hustle will become a hot spot in future economic development, and the study of side-hustle behavior will gradually become an important topic for scholars.
Because of the research on the influencing factors of side-hustle intention, the previous literature on multiple job holding has identified several potential motives behind the side hustle [
10,
11]. First, early empirical research focused on time-limited motivation and believed employees hold side hustles out of financial need. The second occupation allows low-income people to maintain their livelihoods [
12]. Second, according to the standard labor–leisure model, employees may be constrained by hours. That is, employees are willing to work more but are not offered the chance to do so in their primary occupation due to overtime pay or the provisions of the Labor Code [
13]. With the deepening of research, apart from financial motivation, more and more scholars have identified additional motives for a side hustle. Finally, employees may have a side hustle for non-material benefits such as skills and experience or self-actualization [
14,
15,
16,
17]. These initial investigations provide an important window into a side hustle, but they are still limited. Few studies have been conducted to understand the relationship between individual skill variety and side-hustle intention. In China, as an important representative of atypical employment, side hustles have occupied an increasingly important position in economic activities. In contrast, the theoretical community has not matched the theoretical research, and the relevant papers are even fewer. Based on self-determination theory, this study explores the effects of individual skill variety on side-hustle intention based on self-determination theory.
In conclusion, based on self-determination theory, this study constructs the influence model of individual skill variety on side-hustle intention, in which role breadth self-efficacy is the mediator and side-hustle meaning is the moderator. The contributions of this study are as follows. First, this study enriches the research on a side hustle in the gig economy. Second, this study reveals the influence mechanism of individual skills on side-hustle intention via role breadth self-efficacy, broadening the antecedent variable of side-hustle intention. Third, this study extends the boundary conditions of the influence of individual skills on the side-hustle intention by introducing side-hustle meaningfulness.
4. Discussion
Based on self-determination theory, this study constructed an influence model of individual skill variety on the side-hustle intention with role breadth self-efficacy as the mediator and side-hustle meaningfulness as the moderator. Data collected from 402 individuals in China through a questionnaire survey were used for empirical analysis. The conclusions are as follows:
First, individual skill variety is positively associated with side-hustle intention. If employees have various skills and knowledge, their intention will certainly be to display their full talents and the realization of self-worth to find a stage. That is, the more extensive the skills an individual has, the more likely they are to engage in a side hustle to display their talents and realize their self-value.
Second, role breadth self-efficacy plays a mediating role in the relationship between individual skill variety and side-hustle intention. On the one hand, the more skills an individual has, the higher their sense of efficacy of being competent in multiple roles. On the other hand, the higher the individual’s role breadth self-efficacy, the higher their willingness to engage in a sideline hustle.
Third, side-hustle meaningfulness moderates the relationship between role breadth self-efficacy and side-hustle intention and the mediating effect of role breadth self-efficacy. For example, role breadth self-efficacy motivates the “I can do it” drive for individuals to engage in a side hustle. In contrast, side-hustle meaningfulness motivates “It is worth doing” for individuals to engage in a side hustle. Thus, side-hustle meaningfulness positively moderates the relationship between role breadth self-efficacy and side-hustle intention; the greater the employee’s perception of the meaningfulness of a side-hustle, the greater the influence of role breadth self-efficacy on the side-hustle intention.
4.1. Theoretical Implications
First, this study extends the research on the antecedent of side hustles. Previous literature on the antecedent of a side-hustle or multi-job holding includes three main categories: financial, psychological fulfillment, and career development [
59,
60]. Among these three main motivations, financial motivations are mentioned the most [
61,
62,
63,
64]. Some research holds that individuals’ interest in fulfilling personal needs is the motivation for a side hustle [
65]. This study finds that individual skill variety has a positive effect on side-hustle intention. The reason may be that individuals with multiple skills hope to find a stage to give full play to their various skills to realize their value better. Thus, this conclusion supports previous research on the motivation of psychological fulfillment [
65] and extends the research on the antecedent of side hustles.
Second, this study reveals the influence mechanism of individual variety on side-hustle intention. A large number of studies have proved that self-efficacy can predict individual behavior. Bandura introduced self-efficacy into the explanatory model of human behavior and recognized that self-efficacy would affect human behavior [
66,
67,
68]. Role breadth self-efficacy is a specific type of self-efficacy; it focuses not only on a particular talent but also on the broader role competency that employees perceive [
35,
36,
37,
38]. According to self-determination theory, this study explains the mediating role of role breadth self-efficacy between the relationship of individual skill variety and side-hustle intentions. Role breadth self-efficacy has been proven to predict proactive behavior [
50,
69]. This study finds that individual skill variety may strengthen role breadth self-efficacy, providing impetus for individuals to generate side-hustle intentions. This conclusion enriches the research on the role breadth self-efficacy and broadens the influence mechanism of individual skill variety on side-hustle intention.
Third, this study extends the boundary conditions of the influence of individual skills on a side hustle by introducing side-hustle meaningfulness. Side-hustle meaningfulness refers to the meaningfulness that employees perceive in their side hustles, which can also be summarized as the degree of recognition of side hustles by employees [
6]. However, some researchers have also indicated that the meaningfulness of a role affects how deeply an individual will invest themselves in the role [
51]. Few studies have focused on side-hustle meaningfulness. This study takes the step to introduce side-hustle meaningfulness into the model of individual skill variety on side-hustle intention and finds that side-hustle meaningfulness moderates the mediating effect of role breadth self-efficacy. This conclusion not only enriches the research on side-hustle meaningfulness but also reveals the boundary conditions of the influence mechanism of individual skill variety on side-hustle intention through role breadth self-efficacy.
4.2. Limitations and Future Research
First, the questionnaire method was used in this study; although the process of preparing and administering the questionnaire was strictly controlled, it is still an indirect measurement. Hence, future research should consider using quasi-experimental or field-based research methods in future studies, which help improve the accuracy of research conclusions.
Second, some earlier studies concluded that women were more likely than men to develop side-hustle intentions [
15]. In this study, the ratio of men to women was slightly uncoordinated, which may also affect the accuracy of the results. Thus, future research should increase the sample size and achieve a balanced collection of samples in enterprises as much as possible (e.g., harmonize the ratio of men to women), using larger and more heterogeneous samples of participants differing in relevant socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education level, industry background, and job position. By doing so, the conclusions can be more realistic and convincing, and the application value of the research would be improved further.
Lastly, this study focuses on the antecedent of side-hustle intention but does not consider the outcomes of side hustles. However, organizations are concerned whether employees undertaking side hustles could harm their full-time job. Therefore, future research should consider how side hustles affect full-time job performance.