Dissatisfied with rigid corporate structure, a growing number of people are opting to be self-employed; freelancers are set to make up 40% of the US workforce by 2020. Many independent workers are being drawn to coworking spaces in cities, but what’s the appeal of these communal offices?

Students of the 21st century are hungry for a career that can give them the world. Many are leaving school laden with ambition, entrepreneurial spirit and an impressive history of extracurricular activities, but can the career landscape really offer what they’re after?

“Amazon is where overachievers go to feel bad about themselves,” says Noelle Barnes, who worked at the tech giant for nine years. This is a saying that circulates around the company’s campus, and following an exposé by The New York Times, it’s come under fire for its punishing work culture.

From Etsy stores to YouTube channels, a generation of young people are starting up their own 'side hustle’ outside of the regular nine-to-five. What’s driving these predominantly Gen Y workers to trade their free time for toil, and what does this reveal of their changing values and lifestyles?