As Australia's cost of living crisis continues to intensify, more and more Australians are having to take extraordinary measures to ease the financial pressure – and multiple jobs are becoming a desperate but common option.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on June 22 that the wave of part-time jobs has reached a historic peak, highlighting the plight of people's livelihoods under the tightening of household budgets.
The part-time army has set a record, and the service industry has become the main battlefield
According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of Australians working part-time has climbed to an unprecedented 974,000 as of March this year, accounting for 6.7 per cent of the total employed population, meaning that about one in every 15 workers is working at least two jobs at the same time.
This group is mainly active in the service sector, covering a variety of sectors such as healthcare, aged care, disability services, retail and hospitality. Notably, women appear to be more active in this part-time movement, outpacing men in their participation.
Australian experts pointed out that behind this part-time boom is the combined effect of multiple socio-economic factors. These include rising interest rates, sluggish wage growth, a booming gig economy, and a highly competitive job market. When these factors are combined, many Australians are forced to increase their workload to maintain their standard of living.
The flexibility of a Chinese dual-income family
Chris Tan and his wife, Joan Latoja, from Melbourne, are typical of this era. Mr. Tan is an inventory and logistics manager, but outside of work, he uses his personal vehicle to make extra money through the Amazon Flex platform for express delivery.
"The salary of a full-time job is more than enough to cover daily expenses, but the extra income from a part-time job allows us to pay for our children's extracurricular activities, such as gymnastics, ballet lessons and private tutoring."
Mrs. Tan also works part-time at the same platform, and the two use their free time skillfully to contribute to the family's finances through flexible work models.
The proportion of part-time jobs has soared, with Victoria leading the country
The statistics also show that from 1995 to 2019, the proportion of the population working part-time and multiple jobs remained relatively stable, remaining between 5% and 6%.
However, the impact of the pandemic has completely changed this dynamic, and the proportion of part-time employees has surged to an all-time high. Among the states, Victoria has the largest number of part-time workers, accounting for 7.3 per cent, followed by New South Wales and Queensland, which account for 6 per cent and 6.7 per cent of total employment respectively.
Terry Rawnsley, an urban economist at KPMG, observes that Australia's part-time employment trend is gradually moving closer to that of the United States, especially in the service and white-collar industries.
Although Australia's current unemployment rate is at historically low levels, signaling near-full employment, the sluggish wage growth contrasts sharply with the sharp rise in the cost of living, leading to a decline in real income levels.
According to a survey commissioned by Amazon Australia, nearly half of respondents plan to increase their income by working part-time in the next six months to combat the increasing burden of living. Another report from Finder also pointed out that 32% of respondents were forced to take a part-time job due to financial pressure.
In the shadow of the cost-of-living crisis, people's part-time work is not only a reflection of their flexibility to adapt to economic challenges, but also a helpless response to the current imbalance between the job market and the cost of living.