Record 1.35 Million UK Workers Now Juggle Multiple Jobs as Cost of Living Bites

The UK's employment landscape is undergoing a fundamental shift as workers increasingly turn to multiple jobs to make ends meet. According to BBC Business^[1], a record 1.35 million adults are now working at least two jobs, with Generation Z - adults aged up to 29 - driving what workforce management platform Deputy calls the "poly-employment" trend.

This shift comes against a backdrop of 5,716,783 registered companies in the UK^[2], with specific sectors seeing explosive growth in formations.

The Human Face of Multi-Employment

For 28-year-old Ashlin McCourt from Northern Ireland, working 60 hours a week across three jobs - as a civil servant, waitress and baker - has become the new normal. "You don't even know you're tired, you don't even know you're stressed anymore, because that's your regular environment," she told BBC Radio 4's Money Box programme^[1].

Her experience echoes that of 27-year-old Cait Yardy, who juggles work in a supermarket, private tutoring and social media content creation. "In order to pay off debt which we'd accumulated over my maternity leave and to, hopefully, be able to eventually start saving for a house, we realised that just those jobs weren't cutting it anymore," Yardy explained^[1].

Company Formation Patterns Reveal Gig Economy Growth

Data from CompanyPulse's company register^[2] shows striking patterns in business formation. Management consultancy activities lead sector formations with 271,264 companies registered, followed closely by other business support services at 222,721 companies.

The technology sector shows particularly strong representation, with information technology consultancy activities accounting for 166,145 companies, business and domestic software development at 100,113 companies, and other information technology service activities adding another 92,658 companies^[2].

Other sectors seeing significant company formations include online retail (204,130 companies), other service activities (152,213 companies), and other professional, scientific and technical activities (81,679 companies)^[2].

The Director Database Reveals Multiple Roles

CompanyPulse data shows there are currently 28,242,171 active officer positions across UK companies^[2]. This structure enables workers to operate through personal service companies while maintaining employment elsewhere, a common arrangement in sectors like IT consultancy and management services.

Economic Context: Unemployment Falls But Workers Struggle

Paradoxically, this rise in multi-employment comes as UK unemployment has fallen to 4.9% in the three months to February, down from 5.2%, according to the Office for National Statistics^[3]. However, this headline figure masks a more complex reality.

The unemployment drop has been partly driven by fewer students looking for work while studying, with the inactivity rate - measuring those unemployed but not seeking work - rising to 21% from 20.7%^[3]. Meanwhile, wages rose at an annual pace of 3.6% between December and February, the weakest rate since late 2020, though still outpacing inflation.

According to the BBC, Gen Z workers are particularly likely to embrace multi-employment^[1]. As Ashlin McCourt noted: "It's the older generation that I work with that cannot believe that I'll finish in the office and go and work a second job."

Looking Ahead: A Permanent Shift?

The data suggests this isn't merely a temporary response to economic pressures but potentially a structural shift in how work is organised across the UK's 5,716,783 companies. With sectors like management consultancy, IT services, and business support seeing continued growth in company formations, workers may increasingly need to piece together multiple income streams rather than relying on single full-time positions.

As job vacancies fell to their lowest level in almost five years - dropping to 711,000 for the January to March period^[3] - the data suggests the traditional employer-employee relationship may be evolving toward a more fragmented and flexible arrangement for many workers.