Code switchers rock side hustles

With more than 3 million black middle-class people in SA, understanding what drives them is important.

Recent research by the UCT Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing gives some insight into a sector with a spending power of R400bn per year.

Some radio stations, specifically East Coast Radio, Jacaranda FM and Kaya 959, invested in first-party data, allowing them to go beyond the numbers and reveal the real listener.

Kaya 959 dubbed their listeners “code switchers” – people who can seamlessly switch from one language to another, one location to another and one culture, lifestyle or mindset to another, while skilfully managing the tensions this creates.

This year the station’s Radio Check Survey provided a key insight into the black middle class: with Covid having threatened job security, side hustles have become vital to the code switcher’s way of life.

Though many are employed, they have a strong desire to supplement their income: 29% have side hustles, and 65% of these have had these side hustles for two years and less.

The research provides insights into code switchers’ desire for security and for leaving a legacy to their families.

It highlights their hardworking and entrepreneurial spirit.

This is a ground-breaking change in this audience’s makeup, with ramifications for employers, who will have to be more flexible in allowing the evolving middle class the freedom to have more than one source of income.

Code switchers want to advance, and they want education; 18% of those surveyed changed jobs in the past 12 months, 17% enrolled at or returned to university and 15% had undertaken home improvements.