Multiple job holders up by 1.4% – latest data reveals

I guess it's a sign of the difficult economic times.

A growing number of Australians are embracing multiple job roles simultaneously.

In fact, in December 2023, there were 970,700 multiple job holders, compared to 13.4 million single job holders, according to the latest ABS data.

This was up 1.4% from September 2023 when there were 957,100 multiple job-holders.

Multiple job-holding was higher for women

The report shows that in December 2023, the rate of multiple job-holding was higher for women (7.5% compared with 6.0% for men).

Over the past five years, on average, the multiple job-holding rate amongst women has been around 1.9 percentage points higher than men.

Workers aged 20-24 years old were most likely to be working multiple jobs

The data highlights that employed people aged 20-24 were most likely to hold more than one job in December 2023 (8.4%).

In contrast, 5.1% of employed people aged 60-64 were multiple job holders.

Community and personal service workers were most likely to be multiple job holders

In November 2023, 10.3% of all people who were Community and personal service workers in their main job were multiple job-holders.

Machinery operators and drivers were least likely to be multiple job-holders (4.2%).

Meanwhile, people working in the Agriculture, forestry and fishing and Administrative and support services industries in their main job had the highest multiple job-holding rates in December 2023 (9.2% for both).

Multiple job-holding was least common among people whose main job was in Electricity, gas, water and waste services.

It is important to note that some industries lend themselves to multiple job-holding.

For example, some workers in Agriculture, forestry and fishing may work several seasonal jobs for different employers in addition to their main job; and some labour hire workers may work for a number of businesses in Administrative and support services.

Multiple job holders usually worked 30.3 hours

In December 2023:

• Multiple job-holders usually worked 30.3 hours, on average, in their main job, and 9.1 hours in their secondary job(s) - a total of 39.4 hours per week, on average.
• Single jobholders usually worked 35.1 hours per week, on average.

Multiple job-holders were most likely to work part-time hours (less than 35 hours per week) in both their main and secondary job(s), followed by a combination of full-time and part-time hours.

There were a small number of people who had two full-time jobs.

Multiple job-holding rate was higher in regional areas

According to ABS, in December 2023, the multiple job-holding rate was higher in regional areas (7.4%) compared to capital cities (6.4%) at the Australian level.

Over time, growth in multiple job-holding rates in capital cities has led to a narrowing of the difference between rates in capital cities and the rest of Australia.

In December 2023, the multiple job-holding rate was highest in:

• Capital city: Greater Hobart (8.2%)
• Rest of state or territory: Victoria (9.2%)

In Queensland, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory, multiple job-holding was more prevalent in the greater capital city than in the rest of the state or territory.

About Joseph Ballota Joseph is a Property Coach who put hundreds of people on the road towards wiping away their mortgage in under 5 years through expert Property Investment Plans.