Multiple job holding is a significant feature of the contemporary New Zealand labour market, with at least one in ten people actively involved in the workforce holding more than one job at a time. Research into the effects of multiple job holding on the lives of workers in three sectors shows there can be considerable impact on their work-life balance. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with male and female health professional, farmers, and cafe or restaurant workers. The research shows that multiple job holding is comparatively well established in the agriculture and health sectors, with multiple job holders expecting to remain as such for the longer term. While multiple job holding may be equally established in the cafe and restaurant sector, the multiple jobs holders do not generally expect to remain so for long so the multiple job holding appears more transitional. Multiple job holders, who typically work long hours, are motivated by a range of factors, with economic reasons dominating. However, personal factors and pulling together a portfolio of work are also important. Overall, workers interviewed in the three sectors tend to hold their jobs because they want to rather than because they have to. Nevertheless, multiple job holding affects lives outside work, particularly family activities, participation in leisure and exercise, and community involvement. These effects on work-life balance vary by sector.

This paper considers the motivations and experiences of young people who are multiple jobholders. The research is based on structured face-to-face interviews with 73 people aged 18-34 years who worked in cafe/restaurant and/or creative occupations. Young people working in either occupational group were ambivalent about why they held multiple jobs: they reported wanting to work in this way and also having to, for financial and other reasons. However, whereas those in cafe/restaurant jobs often saw multiple job holding as a transitional work arrangement to support themselves and their lifestyle while they pursued other activities, those in creative occupations tended to view multiple job holding as a long-term working arrangement. Despite the negative impacts multiple job holding had on many aspects of their personal and social life, most young people described multiple job holding as a positive experience. These findings add to our understanding of the range of work options now taken by younger workers and point to some policy implications.

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