The nine-to-five workday is fading, replaced by flexibility and shared economy models.
The term "slashing" (Slash) comes from American New York columnist Marci Alboher's bestselling book One Person / Multiple Careers: Managing Multiple Careers in Today's Competitive World. The book title has led many to believe that slashing simply means "taking multiple side jobs to generate income," and some even misunderstand it as an act of desperation due to financial hardship, criticizing it as a "money-chasing" game. In reality, this perspective is far too narrow. In recent years, many people's motivations for slashing have changed, and the identity of a slasher evolves with different "gig" models into personal value.
Slashing actually has three stages: first, the gig economy phase, then advancing to multiple income streams—commonly known as slashing millennials—and finally transforming into personal brand building. The time and maturity required at each stage varies depending on individual capabilities. Initially, slashing may indeed begin with the "gig economy" phase, where people take on various jobs to supplement insufficient salaries and create additional income.
The healthiest model for the gig economy is to take on work related to your own expertise, assuming different roles as a slasher. For example, a writer can be an author/speaker/social media manager, gaining multiple exposures and accumulating professional experience that gradually overshadows the company title, thus developing a personal brand.
Further Reading
Karen's Native Slashing Story: Aren't You Working So Hard Just for "the Right to Choose"?
Personal Branding Becomes the New Mainstream
The inner essence of personal brand building has never actually changed—what has changed is the shift in demands brought about by civilization's evolution. The "nine-to-five" system from the industrial era meant that most workers had free time after work and wouldn't be disturbed by messages. To increase income, workers took side jobs and worked gig work here and there.
After instant messaging became prevalent, work hours are consumed by back-to-back meetings and information bombardment, and off-work hours are spent responding to messages from superiors. Workers spend their time within the workplace and struggle to find their own value. Questions like "Who am I?" and "What do I truly enjoy?" have become increasingly important. Thus, the "slashing" concept emerged, allowing people to define their own value through multiple identities and income streams.
The public has gradually awakened. The China Airlines strike incident once again reminded everyone that capitalists' greed makes it impossible for them to generously share the profits earned by their enterprises with hardworking employees. Capitalists control the ideals and dreams of the lower classes, exploiting them with low wages and unlimited overtime. Then we realize that a company cannot sustain an employee for a lifetime—only oneself can accompany you for life. Therefore, personal strength and personal brand building have recently become the new mainstream. In Taiwan, this has sparked a trend of building personal brands centered on knowledge economy.
Personal brand establishment requires continuous learning and iteration to seize explosive growth opportunities.
The Era of Equality Between Readers and Authors
In the past, the publishing industry and traditional media lacked interactivity. Once a work was produced, readers had to passively receive it without the ability to discuss or provide feedback to the author. However, in modern times, not only has the barrier to becoming an author lowered significantly due to increasingly advanced internet platform tools, but the public's acceptance of the concept that "knowledge has value" has also increased, leading to the emergence of payment systems. This simultaneously creates opportunities for readers to participate in the author's production process, increasing interactivity, narrowing distances, and enriching content. By leveraging platforms, creators can establish professional images and build personal brands.
Currently in Taiwan, there are two types: video and graphic content. Among these, online courses and paid subscription platforms can develop profitable models for individuals or small studios.
Online Courses primarily rely on course crowdfunding launches and revenue sharing with instructors. Courses are priced per course and can be watched repeatedly forever. Taking the hahow platform as an example, it uses a revenue-sharing model with a minimum of 30 students to launch a course. With 150,000 members and approximately 300 instructor-creators, the platform's highest record is over 13,000 students in a single course. Based on the platform's revenue-sharing mechanism, course creators can earn at least 16 million NTD. There are no restrictions on who can be an instructor—"anyone with expertise can be a teacher." This breaks the previous social class barrier where one had to accumulate social recognition before people would pay for professional expertise.
Paid Subscription Platforms operate on monthly or annual payment systems where users pay directly, allowing creators to maintain consistent content production and stability. Different payment models also provide different content. For instance, PressPlay currently has approximately 26,000 stable members and 120,000 accumulated subscriptions, with monthly revenue around 14 million NTD. Well-known Youtubers like HouCC and Jubo are creators on the platform who have established small companies using this as their primary monthly revenue to expand their teams.
Based on platforms having over 100,000 members, we can determine that "self-produced content" has a certain market in Taiwan, and creators can adjust pricing according to their abilities—a fair system. Subscription models themselves allow members to judge whether creators' content meets their needs; if content quality is insufficient, members can cancel as a form of punishment.
Another form is through "written content" to convey personal perspectives, from self-hosted Wordpress websites that allow users to customize layouts and install membership plug-ins, to the influx of Chinese writers into the American Medium platform. Starting from their own professional angles, they earn traffic and follower exposure. Content mostly consists of perspectives on internet and startup fields from different positions, such as business development, website operations, project management, product management, and programming—hard knowledge areas.
Whether video or written content creation, the underlying goal is to establish personal brands, gain recognition and value, and exert influence to change society. The diversity of tool platforms and lowered barriers to content creation enable anyone to build their own voice channel and choose forms of expression that suit them best, attracting groups of people who appreciate their work.
When work is already demanding enough, why do employees still create content and record their thoughts after hours, even giving up stable jobs for freelance work? Is it really just about money?
He Zewu, who currently serves as an overseas branch manager at one of the world's top 500 companies, is a classic example. His annual work income exceeds one million NTD, and he holds a management position. Yet he still writes articles regularly after work, serves as a media columnist, has published three books, and was selected to deliver the commencement address as a representative of Nchu's centennial graduates. He could be labeled a "successful person," but he hasn't abandoned personal brand building—a classic case of slashing transformation. He Zewu believes that "don't let the world define you. Talents need recognition, which is accumulated strength being seen, not influenced by external perspectives to change what you want to do." In fact, when He Zewu lectures in Taiwan, he only seeks to sell books without charging speaking fees—not for profit, but for his value to be recognized, with income flowing in naturally.
Some believe that the gig economy produced by the slashing generation is not merely a "money-chasing" game; if one sees it that way, they're only looking at the surface. What the deeper layers actually reveal is that personal brand builders are evolving and integrating various forms of content to avoid being confined by corporate systems and traditional social perspectives in their careers, crafting their own unique profit models.
If the world wants to label us, we'll run so fast it won't catch up!
