With all the talk of
"The Great Resignation,"
people in New Jersey are definitely
taking advantage of job openings after they quit. In the state, according to
Caleb Silver, with Investopedia, New Jersey is having a nice rebound in the
labor market.
"The job gains have been very strong in
leisure, hospitality and accommodations, and that's where the job gains
are," says Silver.
Isabela Escobar graduated in
May with a political science degree from Rutgers.
“As soon as I graduated, I
became unemployed,” says Escobar.
But she isn't letting
unemployment stand in her way of making money. She's turned her natural talents
into multiple side hustles.
“If you're good at something, might as well get paid
for it and so I grow my own plants. I dry them out, I make bundles,” says Escobar.
Lisa Vitale co-owns BarterPays in Howell.
“BarterPays acts almost like a modern-day business
match maker,” says Vitale. “Instead of matching singles with other potential
love interests, we match up business owners based on what one member wants to
sell and what another member wants to buy.”
She says bartering can
definitely help those who are unemployed
too.
“We like to say cash is
king, but barter is queen,” says Vitale. “If you're tight on cash and you're
looking for ways to make money or get the things that you desire or that you
need, bartering can be a great thing to fall back on.”
If bartering is something that you're interested in,
tap into your talents. Think about a talent that could be in demand and truly
exchangeable. Remember, what may come easy to you may be a chore to someone
else. You also have to network as much as possible.
Escobar says she barters to
get her produce at a community garden in New Brunswick. She promotes her side
gig band "speak easy" on Instagram and markets her products that way,
too. She turned her hobbies into cash.