The 2026 Hatch Hotlist reveals how Gen Z is building their own path into work, teaching themselves AI and side hustling their way to the ski
Career paths used to look like a ladder but for young Australians now, it's more like a web. Skills, networks, income and identity all get built at once, across a few different things, and that's often the plan rather than a fallback.
AI is changing what employers expect from junior hires, and Gen Z isn't sitting around waiting for a training program or a memo from leadership to tell them what to do. They're building their own way in, teaching themselves AI on the side and running side hustles alongside a day job or degree.
The rise of the side hustle
The 2026 Hatch Hotlist survey found 85% of early-career candidates already have a side hustle or want one. Of that group, 39% want one but haven't started, 27% want to keep theirs as a side hustle, and 19% are hoping to turn it into their main job.
Jenna Wall, who works in Community Marketing at Hatch, has had side hustles since she started working, first with her own jewellery brand and now as a florist.
For Jenna, the biggest payoff isn't the extra income, it has been the skills. "All of my experience for this role at Hatch actually came from the side hustle. Learning how to talk to a community, create content for social media, understand what engages people… that's everything I wouldn't have learned otherwise." It started, she says, because her first corporate role left something missing: "I realised I was missing passion and a creative outlet."
