Multi-jobbing

It isn’t just Gen Z supplementing income with extra work

The gig economy is largely considered a collection of unaffiliated free spirits who find contract work in their communities or via platforms such as TaskRabbit, DoorDash, and ride-share apps. 

When even two to five years are required for entry-level jobs, exposure is the currency offered to those trying to break into the dream job, so it is not a surprise to read about the gig economy on the rise. Many giggers also use temporary work to supplement low starting salaries. 

However, there is a common misconception and ample stories from reputable sources claiming that Gen Z is single-handedly transforming the United States into a gig economy, but the data tell a different story. A deeper dive into the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data reveals the prevalence of independent contracting increases sharply with age. 

From the “Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements” survey (July 2023), roughly 7.4% of the workforce reported independent contractor work as their primary employment. When scaled to compare relative likelihood, the smallest percentage of self-employed workers comes from Gen Zers, aged 16 to 24, compared to 55.8% of the normalized prevalence index for those aged 55-plus, suggesting that in this case, Boomers are setting the trend. 

Though finding and competing for contract work have been modernized, connecting workers with potential temp work, gigging, as a primary job has declined over the long run. 

A walk through history shows that Boomers are no strangers to contracted work. Looking as far back as the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) data will go, analysis reveals that a much larger percentage of the workforce was self-employed for primary employment in 1948 (~18.5%) compared to 2026 (~6.0%). 

There is a long-run downward trend in the number of self-employed workers as a primary source of income, punctuated by cyclical spikes. Regression analysis shows a lost −0.128 percentage points per year since 1948, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Though many people hold multiple jobs, historical data from FRED also show steady rates with an average of 5.3% of workers holding a second job since data collection began in 1994. 

Reports suggesting Gen Z is struggling to break into uncompromising markets and forced into gigging to get by, and this might be true; however, data suggest that “working hard to make ends meet” is nothing new.