Grace Corvo says a lot of people my age are hustling … it's sort of unavoidable.(ABC News: Peter Quattrocelli)
When 22-year-old Grace Corvo started delivering homemade lasagne to friends around Brisbane, she did not expect it to become a job.
But the demand has grown, and, not willing to pass up the extra income, she now adds lasagne dealer to her list of jobs, which also includes support worker, and running a bi-monthly pop-up kitchen at a local bar.
It may not be conventional, but she's one of nearly 194,000 young people aged between 15 to 24 who are working more than one job — the highest it has ever been.
A lot of people my age are hustling, but a lot of it's sort of unavoidable, she said.
We need to hustle in order to pay rent, pay food, and just like survive out here.
ABS data shows around 8 per cent of accommodation and food services workers have multiple jobs.(AAP: Lukas Coch)
Recent ABS data shows thenumber of Australians working multiple jobs has reached a record highwith an estimated 947,300, or 6.6 per cent of the workforce, now holding more than one form of employment.
For most of Australia's workforce, the number had remained stable – between 5 and 6 per cent – before the pandemic.
But now it's beginning to rise.
For the youngest working generation, the number has grown from about 111,000 in 2017 to almost 194,000 this year — roughly 8.9 per cent of the workforce aged between 20 and 24.
And it's disproportionately women who are working multiple jobs — at 7.7 per cent, compared to5.7 per cent for men.
Young workers 'hungry to have a positive future'
Australian Youth Affairs Coalition co-chairSarah Ramantanissaid she had seen the number of young people juggling several jobs increase since before the pandemic.
With a jump in living costs for employees – up 9.6 per cent over the year to June — Ms Ramantanis said many young people had been left with no choice but to seek out more work.
We've seen that trend, I'd say for at least the last five years, and it's only been progressing, she said.
And it's hard for young people to even have stable employment in just one role, so they're always needing to seek more than one or two avenues of revenue so that they can live day-to-day lives.
Sarah Ramantanis says young people are hungry to have a positive futureand they'll do what they can to get there.(ABC News: Darryl Torpy)
An under-appreciated side-effect of this, she said, was the emotional toll it was taking on young people who were postponing careers to take on any work they could find.
One of the biggest things we're seeing is obviously lack of confidence, not feeling that strive and ambition and positivity to go out there and follow their ambitions, Ms Ramantanis said.
They just need to find anything, anywhere to make an income, and then fiveyears down the track … they realise they're not sure where to go.
But she said the issues this generation was facing had helped cultivate a resilience and willingness to take on more work.
Young people are hustlers and they're willing to do what they need to do to get to where they need to be, she said.
They're hungry to have a positive future, and they'll do what they can to get there.
One expert sayshigh educational requirements for many jobs also meant young people were more likely to remain students for longer, often meaning they take on multiple jobs to survive.(ABC News: Sam Ikin)
Freedom, lifestyle among key concerns
A quick tour through the Brisbane bar where Mr Corvo works reveals a cohort sharing a similar story.
For Charlotte — a support worker, babysitter, ceramicist, and full-time student – the reason is simple.
The cost of living is a crisis, she said.
I like doing ceramics as a hobby, and I decided to sell them, and babysitting because my neighbourhood needs a babysitter. And then I do support work because that's my stable income.
Grace Corvo says she does not associate her personal value withwhat I do for work.(ABC News: Peter Quattrocelli)
Ziggy works as a bartender at two different venues, and Isabelle works as a teacher, as a retail assistant, and in a gallery.
But beyond cost-of-living pressures, there is another thread running through many of their stories.
For Sam, who works as a research assistant and in a medical service role, working one job just isn't appealing.
I like diversity, I think – I have worked one job full time and I prefer having more things going, he said.
It's a sentiment Isabelle agrees with.
I think it's a lifestyle thing;I think I have a personal preference to have more than one job and it also aligns with my [ceramics] practice, she added.
And for Ms Corvo, having the option to work several jobs is about freedom as much as it is about financial stability.
I just don't see my value being in what I do for work, she said.
I would rather it be for me and not a meaningless company or something like that. But I know I'm just very privileged that I've got to figure out an alternative.
GenZ facing'new and unique' challenges
Senior economist at the Centre for Future Work, Eliza Littleton, told the ABC the youngest working generation faced new and unique economic issues.
Eliza Littleton says some professions don't offer thecareer paths they once did.(Supplied: Eliza Littleton)
Among these, Ms Littleton counts their over-representation in insecure or casual employment, such as hospitality, retail, and care work.
ABS data shows the Agricultural, Forestry and Fishing sector had the highest rate of multiple job holders, at 9.2 per cent.
But this was closely followed administration and support services (9.1 per cent), arts and recreation services (8 per cent), accommodation and food services (7.9 per cent), and health care and social assistance (7.7 per cent) – industries that are reliant on young workers.
Ms Littleton said high educational requirements for many jobs also meant young people were more likely to remain students for longer, a cohort often drawn to working multiple casual jobs that would fit around study demands.
And competitive professional job markets, where young and inexperienced workers find themselves competing with a large pool of qualified candidates, meant many early-career workers were forced to take on low-paying or unpaid internships to gain valuable experience.
The quality of work has kind of declined over time, Ms Littleton said.
Professions don't necessarily offer as viable a career path as they once did, the pay is much lower.
And there's less security in jobs — those things that workers might go and pursue a career for.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-11/record-number-of-young-people-juggling-multiple-jobs/102713182
