Workers taking on second jobs to pay for essentials

Even though a tight labour market has pushed wages up across the board, the increase has not kept pace with inflation. A recent article on MSN has reported that this is forcing workers to increase their hours and look for second jobs to pay for essentials such as gas, food, and rent.

According to a report from the St. Louis Federal Reserve, it was revealed that the percentage of people working multiple jobs in the US has increased from 4% to 4.8% since March 2020.

Usually, taking on multiple jobs signals a healthy job market with plenty of job opportunities available, but the report suggested that it also signals increasing financial strain on Americans’ pocketbooks.

Ken Brotherston, CEO at TALiNT Partners commented: “This is the real gig economy. The vast majority of second jobs are not ‘cool side hustles’ they are the difference between being able to pay you rent or not and are another signal that employment for many people is precarious.”