The higher cost of living and growth of part time and contract work is fuelling a rise in people taking on second jobs or ‘side hustles’, according to experts.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently released data showing the number of people working more than one job is on the rise, now totalling 986,400 people, which is 6.6 per cent of employed people in the country.
The main reason people are picking up an extra job is cost of living pressures from inflation, according to Professor Angela Knox from Sydney University’s Business School.
“Wage growth has not been matching the rate of inflation growth,” she told the ABC.
“That means that for most people, they're suffering a real wage cut. To be able to meet their costs … they're potentially picking up extra work.”
The other factor behind the growth in people holding multiple jobs is underemployment — where people are working fewer hours than they would like.
Ms Knox said that meant people were often “cobbling together other jobs to try and build up their hours” to full-time work.
“So they're picking up extra work on the side to be able to bolster their regular income, to be able to meet their regular commitments.”
"I'm constantly sort of chasing my tail with the bills," painter Frank Hoyt told the ABC.
"It’s hard. It’s not just rent and everything else that's gone up but the cost of materials and stuff like that for work."
Mr Hoyt runs a business repairing hail-damaged cars but, with jobs depending on the weather, the high cost of living has forced him to pick up a second job painting houses.
The painting gig was in previous years more about bringing in pocket money for his hobbies — “I collect Marvel toys”, he explains — but now the cash is going straight towards household bills.
Though inflation has seen even that work slow down in recent months as his customers count their pennies too.
“It’s hard to even get jobs. Because when you give someone a quote they start to take a step back and have to think about what they have to spend money on,” he said.
A report by Great Southern Bank also found 40 per cent of home owners surveyed were considering a side hustle and 21 per cent a second job to help with home loan repayments.
My Hoyt has noticed more of his friends picking up extra work too.
“Lately they've had to seek out a second job, whether it's taking stuff to the tip, to the dump or mowing the lawns, you know, stuff you don't need skills for.”
It’s a trend Airtasker CEO Tim Fung has noticed too, with the skyrocketing cost of living driving more people to list their skills on the online freelancing platform to earn some extra cash.
“We've seen an 80 per cent increase year-on-year in terms of people turning to this kind of work to find some extra money,” he told the ABC in an interview.
However, he also noted rising interest rates have dampened consumer sentiment, leading to reduced demand on the platform from customers and fewer jobs being posted (Airtasker works with the buyer posting a job they require and 'taskers' bidding a price to complete the work).
He said the platform plugs a hole in the market for odd jobs and one-off tasks that would likely never be a full-time job — "things like Ikea furniture assembly, trampoline installation, people hanging out Christmas lights".
The ABS data reveals more women than men are taking on side gigs, with 7.7 per cent of employed women being multiple job-holders, compared to 5.8 per cent of employed men.
Younger workers, aged 20-24, were also most likely to be working multiple jobs (8.7 per cent).
“It's probably because women are more likely to be working on a part-time basis and often a temporary basis as well and they're arranging their work hours around their family commitments," Ms Knox explained.
Thirty-four-year-old Nataasha Torzsa, a solo mum who works full-time for the Queensland government, has several side hustles to help make ends meet and provide for her four-year-old child.
“All of my bills have increased in the last year, including my rent, car insurance, internet," she said.
"Increasing my income is one way I can help negate the increase in my budget.
"As a single parent working full time and with a child in daycare, there's only one income in the household so all of these increases fall on me alone and can make my budget really stretched if I don't try and increase my income somehow."
One of her favourite jobs is dog sitting, but she also deposits recycled bottles and cans (some states offer a refund for this), does freelance writing and sells items on Facebook. And she has noticed many of her friends picking up extra work on top of their full-time jobs in the current economic climate.
“I side hustle to increase my income and save as much as I can. I try to average 25 per cent of my income to savings,” Ms Torzsa told the ABC.
She hopes to save a deposit for a house for her and her son with the goal to buy later this year.
While working a second job has clear benefits in terms of providing extra income, there are many considerations and potential downsides.
One is simply the stress of coordinating multiple jobs, according to Angela Knox.
“It can become much more stressful. So stress levels will potentially increase and the likelihood of work-family conflict increases where you have these difficulties managing your work life with your family life, and they come in conflict, and the inability to manage the two in a coordinated, harmonious way increases stress.”
Of course, an extra job means not just extra income, but potentially extra tax obligations.
The Australian Taxation Office advises that any income sources are liable to pay tax.
"We work out your assessable income using all income you earn. This includes both your job and side hustle, and any other income you may earn. Your total income lets us work out things like your Medicare Levy or study loan repayments," its website states.
The ATO's assistant commissioner Tim Loh said in a post on the ATO's website that any additional income earned through a side hustle needed to be declared.
"While there are always new and different ways to make money, the tax obligations remain the same," Mr Loh warned.
"Don’t fall into the trap of forgetting to include all your income thinking the ATO won’t notice."
