3 Best-Paying Side Gigs for Millennials Worried About Layoffs

Laura Bogart

Fri, May 9, 2025, 6:45 AM 4 min read

Scrolling through your LinkedIn feed feels like watching a horror movie these days, as you see a steady stream of talented, hard-working people adding the green “#OpenToWork” banners to their profiles. Layoffs can sweep through even the most dedicated teams, and no one is immune. Not even you.

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As a Millennial, you’re used to tough times. You’re doing everything you can to buttress yourself financially in case you find yourself on the wrong end of a layoff. You’re prioritizing your emergency fund (and making sure that it’s in a high-yield savings account). You’re slashing expenses wherever you can — canceling unused subscriptions, cutting back on dining out. In short, doing everything the experts recommend to save all you can.

Still, you worry it won’t be enough. You’re wondering if it’s time to take on a side hustle. But you don’t want something that will drain your physical and emotional energy without delivering real financial benefit.

GOBankingRates looked at some of the best-paying side gigs for Millennials to take on now.

Are you organized, almost to a fault? Do you enjoy learning new technologies? Would you say you’re at your happiest when you’re helping people? If you answered yes to these questions, you might have found your calling as a virtual assistant.

Working largely from home, you’d get to help individuals or businesses with administrative tasks like managing inboxes, scheduling, customer service and light bookkeeping.

When starting out, you can charge around $15 to $20 per hour, moving up to $25 to $40 an hour, and eventually, you could earn $40 to $75 an hour. If you have specialized skills — such as proficiency in Excel or experience with project management tools — you might be able to charge more out of the gate.

To search for companies that are hiring virtual assistants, try Flexjobs or Indeed. If you want help being paired with businesses that need your services, try platforms like Time etc or Boldly, which match VAs with clients.

You know all that delightful web copy you read while you’re scrolling on your phone? The kind that convinces you to buy the goodies you didn’t know you needed? Informs you about random facts at 2 a.m.? (Octopuses have three hearts — who knew?) That’s not created by AI or magic — only the magic of human creativity via a skilled copywriter.

If you’re deft with words, either in your day job or as a hobby, it’s worth building an online portfolio to showcase your talent. Include samples of marketing copy, blog posts, social media captions, product descriptions — anything a business might need to build its brand voice and connect with customers.