The United Kingdom’s official unemployment rate stands at 4.9%, yet beneath this figure lies a growing trend of ‘poly-employment,’ particularly among those in their twenties. A record 1.35 million adults are now juggling at least two jobs, a phenomenon largely driven by Generation Z, according to an analysis by workforce management platform Deputy. This data, derived from over 20 million shifts by more than 300,000 UK workers, highlights the increasing financial pressures faced by young people.
The ‘New Normal’ of Multiple Roles
For individuals like Ashlin McCourt, 28, from Northern Ireland, working multiple jobs has become a necessity rather than an option. She dedicates approximately 60 hours a week to her roles as a civil servant, a waitress, and a baker. ‘Life’s so expensive,’ she states, reflecting a sentiment echoed by many of her peers. McCourt notes that older colleagues express surprise at her demanding schedule, a stark contrast to what she perceives as the norm for her generation. ‘It’s the older generation that I work with that cannot believe that I’ll finish in the office and go and work a second job,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Money Box programme.
McCourt’s days are a carefully orchestrated balance of her primary civil service role, interspersed with waitressing and baking shifts before or after work, or on her days off. The financial realities are stark: ‘Mortgages aren’t cheap, your standard of living isn’t cheap.’ She admits to a severely curtailed social life, budgeting meticulously even for a single outing per month. Her personal life is also a testament to this demanding lifestyle, as she shares her experiences on social media while planning her upcoming wedding in five months. Her partner also works two jobs.
‘You don’t even know you’re tired, you don’t even know you’re stressed anymore, because that’s your regular environment,’ McCourt explains, illustrating the psychological toll of constant work.
Balancing Family and Financial Goals
Cait Yardy, 27, exemplifies the challenges of balancing work and family life under financial strain. She holds down three positions: working in a supermarket, as a private tutor, and as a social media content creator. The decision to pursue multiple jobs was significantly influenced by her daughter’s complex health issues, which made a return to full-time work a secondary concern. Prior to parenthood, Cait and her fiancé managed with her part-time retail job and his full-time employment, but this proved insufficient to cover debts accrued during her maternity leave and to begin saving for a house.
‘In order to pay off debt which we’d accumulated over my maternity leave and to, hopefully, be able to eventually start saving for a house, we realised that just those jobs weren’t cutting it anymore,’ she explains. Her current roles offer flexibility, allowing her to work from home while caring for her daughter. ‘We are hoping this is something that doesn’t have to be forever,’ Yardy says, expressing a desire to return to full-time employment once her daughter starts school.
The impact on family time is considerable. ‘I think probably the main challenges I have are being quite tired a lot of the time, especially with wanting to be a present mum and a present fiancée.’ She acknowledges the limited time the family spends together but views it as a necessary sacrifice for their future. ‘We obviously don’t get a whole lot of time where all three of us are home together but it’s worth it, it’s what’s best for our future and it’s something that just has to happen at the moment,’ she states.
Diverse Roles, Singular Focus: Financial Stability
Chloe Mayhew, 27, from Glasgow, navigates a varied professional life, combining freelance graphic design, teaching drama and dance, and working in a care home. Despite the disparate nature of her roles, she finds enjoyment in each. ‘They’re very, very different from each other, but it’s all things that I really love and enjoy.’ However, the underlying motivation remains financial. ‘But making money is always a priority,’ she asserts.
Mayhew describes her days as exceptionally long, often involving a 14-hour workday followed by immediate work on her laptop. ‘It’ll be like a 14-hour day for me, and I get home and first thing I do is get into bed and open up my laptop and start editing. So yeah, it’s a crazy life.’ Her current multi-job approach is a strategic move towards a long-term ambition: securing a well-paid, full-time position in the creative industry before the age of 40. ‘I think I’m taking the right steps just now to hopefully create that life,’ she says.
The Search for Stability in Inconsistent Income
Haylii, 22, from Essex, recently purchased her first fixer-upper home, a feat achieved through years of saving for a deposit while working in hospitality since the age of 17. Her current income is split between social media content creation (approximately 70%) and hospitality (30%), where she works 10-hour shifts three days a week. The hospitality shifts are described as ‘horrible.’ Her online influencing career, which began two years ago, now forms the bulk of her earnings. However, she finds the solitary nature of working from her phone ‘isolating’ and the income financially ‘inconsistent.’
‘The shift patterns are horrible,’ she says. ‘Hospitality, it gives me that social interaction. It’s just the stability of knowing that I’m going to get paid at the same like time every month and all my bills will be sorted.’
Dr. Paul Redmond, an expert on generational change and the future of work, acknowledges potential benefits in part-time employment, such as gaining work experience and new skills. However, he cautions against overexertion, warning that young people may ‘take on too much work,’ leading to burnout and negatively impacting their wellbeing.
The trend of young adults taking on multiple jobs, sometimes three, to make ends meet underscores a significant shift in the economic realities for Generation Z. While these ‘poly-employment’ strategies offer a path to financial stability and long-term goals, they come at a considerable personal cost, impacting well-being and family time, and highlighting the persistent challenges of affordability in the current economic climate.
