For the fifth straight quarter a new record number of people working more than one job. In the December quarter of last year 925,000 people worked in multiple jobs – 100,000 more than was the case in September 2021.

As the cost of living rises quickly, mortgage repayments soar from 9 consecutive rises in interest rates, and falling real wages, it is clear that more people than ever before need to find another job to pay the bills.

It is always good that people are able to find work if they need it, but these latest figures, which show 6.6% of all employed people working more than one job, mean that people are needing to find extra work because their main job is not paying enough or not providing enough hours.

Given there were 1.022m jobs classed as someone’s “secondary job” that also suggests that nearly 100,000 people are working more than 2 jobs.

With the Reserve Bank predicting wages to rise slower than inflation until the start of next year we can expect the number of Australians working more than one job to keep rising. It highlights the need to ensure workers are able to bargain effectively for better wages and hours and also the need for the RBA to hold off on raising interest rates again as clearly the impact is being felt by people struggling to make ends meet even though they are employed.