22 juin 2020

Privilege or necessity? The working lives of people with multiple jobs

Eurofound / Etudes et Enquêtes / Droits et libertés au travail - Emploi et compétences - Exécution du contrat de travail

Conditions de travail, Emplois multiples, Emploi décent, Emploi des femmes, Egalité Femme-Homme

« A relatively small proportion of the EU workforce holds down a second job: 4% in 2018. This figure nevertheless represents 9.3 million workers. In addition, the phenomenon is on the rise – numbers have increased by 3.5% since 2013. 

A substantial proportion are low earners with short working hours who take up extra work to supplement their income. However, multiple job-holding is equally apparent in the higher earning brackets. In fact, a majority of multiple-job holders are in white collar, high-skilled occupations in their main job. 

When the data are broken down by gender, quite a different picture emerges. The top occupation for women is cleaners and helpers; personal care workers and sales workers also rank in the top five. For men, the top occupation is metal and machinery workers – jobs like mechanic and welder – but the top five also includes business professionals and science and engineering professionals.

His gender disparity in occupation is accompanied by a striking difference in income. Most women (40%) are in the lowest income quintile, while the largest share of men (30%) is in the top quintile.

A fair share of multiple job holding is associated with decent job quality, but more so for men than for women: half of male multiple-job holders (49%) have above-average job quality in their main jobs, compared to 35% of women in this group. However, among both sexes, around one-third have poor job quality. »