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The side hustle is becoming an essential as the cost of living crisis bites hard.
Data from Stats NZ shows the number of multiple job holders in New Zealand had risen from 187,600 people in the first quarter of 2019 to 220,900 people in the second quarter of 2024 across all industries around the country.
A new survey shows almost half New Zealand's workers are considering taking on a second job in the coming year to make ends meet and for discretionary spending.
It found that the vast majority of workers who had or would consider a second job were doing so solely for financial reasons.
The survey showed that baby boomers was the generation that was the least likely to be considering an extra job to meet the increased cost of living (33 percent), while at 57 percent Gen X were the most likely to seek an additional source of income.
Those who are considering or who already have a second job gave the following reasons:
- Necessary to meet financial needs (42 percent)
- Provide extra funds for discretionary spend (32 percent)
- Pursuit of a personal passion (7 percent)
- A back-up in case of layoff from the primary job (10 percent)
- To build skills in a different field/to test a new career (9 percent)
- To fulfil personal goals (7 percent)
Megan Alexander - from Robert Half which carried out this survey - said the results were not hugely surprising considering the cost of living crisis and the fact that people were looking for extra money.
"I think most people are just looking for a little bit more cash in hand whether it's actually to meet their financial obligations or just to have that extra bit of discretionary spend."
Many companies were also becoming less profitable and could not afford to give pay increases even though people were struggling with the high cost of living, she said.
"So the pay rises aren't coming and it's then flowing through to the individual households which is why people are looking for that secondary income."
The survey did not look into what types of jobs people were taking on, but it could be that people were taking on a part-time second job rather than trying to hold down two full-time jobs, she said.
Alexander warned employees to be aware of their job contract before taking on another part-time job saying it can "open up a can of worms".
"Often contracts have clauses in them about conflicts of interest or taking on additional workloads because it can affect their current primary job in terms of absenteeism, being exhausted, just not being focused and present in their primary role," she said.
"I think employees do need to wary of communicating to their employer, obviously employers need to be aware of that and then thinking about the employee welfare of their staff member and seeing if there are reasons or things they can even do to help."
Most employers considered the health and wellbeing of their employees and did not want them getting burn-out and wanted their staff to be as productive as possible in their primary role, she said.
In terms of people needing to take on a second job, employers needed to be aware that every case was different, she said.
"It's really about understanding the situation and being able to provide support, maybe it's a bit more flexibility, you know not everyone can get a pay rise however they can be supportive maybe of the hours you work, coming to work and things like that and being aware of it at least."
A large number of people were considering having a second job and employers needed to be aware that many people were under financial pressure, she said.
The online survey of 501 full-time office workers across New Zealand was undertaken in June 2024 and is part of an international workplace survey.
