LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – More Americans and people in the Las Vegas Valley are signing up for a second job or “side hustle” this holiday season as inflation continues to pinch families’ pocketbooks.
Ahead of the holidays, close to 8.4 million Americans had more than one job in October and November, according to the latest statistics from the Department of Labor. The number accounts for more than 5% of the workforce.
The number of Americans with a full-time and a part-time job has soared to its highest level ever, according to economic research from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The number of Americans with “second jobs” plummeted during COVID-19 shutdowns in 2020, but rebounded quickly past the previous high in 2019.
Florin Moise is a parking supervisor at a resort on the Las Vegas Strip, but has a holiday side hustle: installing Christmas and holiday lights across the Valley for local company “Holidays Perfected.” He found the job through the “gig” app Bacon.
“It provided a good Christmas for my family,” Moise said. “You need two or three side hustles just to get by now. The cost of living has gone through the roof. Our rent’s gone up $500 in the last year. You just can’t survive on one income anymore,” he said.
Bacon has seen the post-pandemic growth of worker demand for multiple streams of income and flexible ways to earn a living.
“The gig economy is continuing to grow. It’s actually grown by 30% Since COVID,” said CEO Hunter Sebresos. “Certainly inflation does play a part, but people are always looking for more ways to have work in more flexible ways. They want to have the freedom to choose where and when they want to work. And that’s why the gig economy is continuing to grow,” Sebresos said, noting Bacon has the goal of employing 10,000 gig workers by the end of next year.
Rideshare drivers are part of the “gig” economy and tell FOX5 they enjoy the freedom of choosing when and where they want to work in addition to other employment.
The search for second jobs comes as companies big and small across industries are still suffering from a worker shortage, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. There are 9.5 million job openings and 6.5 million people are unemployed.
“The challenge for us, because we’re a seasonal business, we have a hard time finding full-time employees for the actual season,” said Holidays Perfected owner Cathy Bierman, who says flexible “gig” work posted on Bacon has been crucial to meet her business needs.
“We see people who utilize us as their full-time job during their season, and we also find people who have full-time jobs just looking to supplement their income,” she said.
Indeed.com has advice for second-job seekers. Click here for more information: 10 Tips To Help You Get a Second Job
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