Thought the the same. For me it's not doing sideprojects to get a job but having a job to finance my sideprojects.
Side projects are more and more being touted as a way to "stand out" from the enormous crowd of people trying to get tech jobs. A company choosing among 100 candidates, all things being equal, may bias towards the few with active interesting side projects. If you accept that, then starting some kind of side project would be worth it.
FTA: > Side note: learning a skill isn’t a side project, you have to ship something.