Tech Empowerment
AI self-media becomes a new solution for office workers’ second income
“It’s not necessary to change jobs, but you can’t have only one source of income.” With year-end bonuses arriving and the Lunar New Year approaching, post-holiday job changes and slash career plans have become a hot topic among many office workers. The latest survey shows that this wave of job changes has already taken hold: according to a survey by a job search platform, as many as 95% of office workers intend to change jobs after the New Year, of which nearly 75% have already started searching for job openings or conducting interviews. Many other office workers even revised or submitted their resumes before the New Year, indicating that the idea of changing jobs has moved from thinking to concrete action.
Taiwanese self-media training institution Feiteng Yiguo International Culture Media Co., Ltd. points out that in this trend, in addition to the traditional option of changing jobs, more and more office workers are beginning to think about “not just changing companies, but changing their income structure.” The self-media business model that combines AI technology is becoming a new option that is rapidly gaining popularity in the market. Feiteng Yiguo CEO Huang Qiaoxi (Sister Cat) stated that many students do not wait until they officially leave their jobs to learn, but rather, while still having a full-time job, they first use AI tools and self-media models to establish replicable income channels, reducing the risk of changing jobs.
Phytium Ego’s practical performance in the field of self-media training has garnered attention in recent years, earning it a place in the SME category of the “24th Republic of China Outstanding Enterprise Golden Peak Award.” The award focuses on business models, organizational development, and overall operational performance. Phytium Ego stated that this award reflects the continued increase in market demand for digital content training and practically oriented courses.
In the past, operating a self-media platform often required long hours of video editing, copywriting, and even learning programming or design tools. The high barrier to entry and significant trial-and-error costs deterred most office workers. Hsieh Kuan-hung (Robin), co-founder of Phytium Ego, points out that with the maturation of content-based AI tools, script generation, video production, copywriting, and sales processes can all be effectively assisted, reducing learning and time costs. This allows ordinary office workers and stay-at-home mothers to practically produce short videos and social media content.
The case studies of students at Feiteng Yiguo also demonstrate the growing income potential of AI-powered self-media: some students began accumulating followers, launching online sales, or taking on freelance work within three months of completing the course, earning monthly incomes comparable to their primary occupations; some full-time housewives have also transformed short video content into a stable side hustle, generating substantial earnings each week using only spare moments. These results further confirm the feasibility of AI-powered self-media for ordinary office workers and families.
He further explained that the role of AI is not to replace creators, but to standardize and streamline the creative process, so that self-media operation is no longer the privilege of a few, but a skill that can be learned, replicated, and amplified.
In the early stages of the development of self-media, the benefits were mostly concentrated on “securing a foothold and competing for traffic.” As long as you caught up with the platform’s growth phase, you had the opportunity to quickly accumulate fans and exposure. However, as platforms matured and competition intensified, relying solely on traffic became insufficient for stable monetization. Executive Director Guo Wanzhen pointed out that the key in 2026 is not “who has the most traffic,” but “who can convert content into actual revenue,” including revenue sharing through e-commerce, multi-platform strategies, and long-term content asset management.
She analyzed that what office workers are most concerned about now is not just pursuing their dreams, but “whether they can build a sustainable second income without quitting their jobs.” The value of AI-powered self-media lies precisely at this intersection, making career choices no longer black and white, but providing an additional buffer and strategic path.
With the early onset of the job-hopping trend and rising income anxiety, the market generally expects that AI-powered self-media will continue to attract more office workers and families in 2026, becoming one of the important solutions for career transformation and income restructuring.