Record Number of People with Second Jobs

According to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) last week, the number of multiple job holders reached a record high of 900,000 people in the June quarter 2022, an increase of 4.3 per cent.

Lauren Ford, head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, said: “Around 900,000 people worked multiple jobs in the June quarter – 6.5 per cent of all employed people. This is the highest rate since the quarterly series commenced in 1994, and about 0.5 percentage points above its pre-pandemic level.

“Along with the 4.3 per cent increase in the number of multiple job holders, the number of jobs worked as secondary jobs also increased, by 5.5 per cent, and passed one million for the first time. This highlights that some people work more than two jobs at the same time.”

The number of filled jobs also reached a record high of just under 15 million, an increase of 2.2 per cent in the June quarter. There was also a 14.3 per cent increase in vacant jobs.

“The high number of both filled jobs and vacant jobs reflects the continued strong demand for workers across the economy, coupled with widespread labour shortages,” Ms Ford said.

Hours worked increased by 2.9 per cent for the June quarter, following the fall in the March quarter associated with the initial impacts of the Omicron variant and floods in Eastern Australia.

“The increase in secondary jobs and hours worked since early in the pandemic has coincided with a large fall in the number of part-time and full-time workers who would like to work more hours, with underemployment now at historical lows,” Ms Ford said.

The largest increase in the number of multiple job holders was in ‘Arts and recreation services’ (16.3 per cent more people) and ‘Information media and telecommunication’ (up 11.8 per cent).

Arts and recreation services also had the highest multiple job holding rate, increasing by 0.4 percentage points to 8.9 per cent in the June quarter. The rate was lowest in ‘Electricity, gas, water and waste services’, at 3.5 per cent.

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