Is Moonlighting Poised to Return, and if so, What Should Employers and Employees Do About it?
As the economy turns, it’s likely that more people will start taking second jobs. Added employment security and the need to double up on paychecks to make up for losses during the recession will drive people in this direction. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 7.6 million Americans held multiple jobs during the first five months of this year, or 5% of all employees, about the same as last year. During earlier economic boom periods, moonlighting has increased. For example, at the end of 1989 over 7.2 million Americans worked more than one job, an increase of 25% since 1985. And, by 1997, 8.5% worked more than one job, almost another 20% increase. Now, during more difficult financial times, perhaps it’s not surprising that the numbers are down a bit.
But, the downward trend seems poised for a quick uptick as the economy improves and employers supplement their workforce with part timers rather than bulk up on full-time employees.
In a CareerBuilder.com survey earlier this year, about 18% of the respondents said they planned to take a second job in 2009. Middle-aged workers are even more likely to work multiple jobs. An AARP survey reported that 19% of Americans 45 to 54 worked a second job last year. CareerBuilder’s survey also found that 60% of respondents were living paycheck to paycheck.
The Commerce Department reported that retail sales climbed 2.7% in August after falling 0.2% in July. And despite the drop in July, purchases of sporting and entertainment increased by 2.3%, and general-merchandise store sales were up 1.6% for the month. While most economists still forecast some difficult times ahead for employment, many human resource managers and recruiters are already talking about planned increases in consultancy and part-time hiring.
Since the recession began in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has risen by 7.4 million. Most recently, as public budgets tightened, most municipalities became the next large group (after construction and financial services) forced to dole out pink slips. Teachers, road workers, and public safety staff, like fire and police force members have all felt the sting of the recession. Many of these workers may have already had second jobs. There is even a website called Cops and Firefighters in Business that helps businesses run by police and fire workers network to grow and prosper! And a report last year by the Texas State Teacher’s Association stated that 25% of Texas teachers have second jobs!
Moonlighting Trends
The employment trends and culture changes indicate that moonlighting will only grow in the future. The U.S. has moved away from it’s traditional worker mindset where most people selected trades and worked on their own, chose shift work and expected to work varying schedules, or worked at 9-to-5 office jobs they expected to last for decades. For shift and office workers, in the past many aspects of their lives were tied up with their employer (retirement plans, health and dental insurance, etc.). Now many workers need to operate a bit like a freelancer, focusing on the work rather than the employer; another trend that leads to moonlighting. Work may last only for days, weeks or months, rather than years, and we need to be able to prove we are skilled and valuable regardless of where we find work. And, we need to be flexible and ready to embrace ever-changing jobs, technologies, and business models.
Dealing with Moonlighting
Moonlighting causes issues for both employers and workers. Employers’ challenges are focused on productivity, safety, conflicts of interest, and misuse of company property. To address any concerns ask these questions when reassessing company policies (now’s a good time to revisit these):
1. How does moonlighting affect the safety of our employees and our customers?
2. Should our moonlighting policy cover all employees consistently?
3. Will moonlighting create conflicts of interests for our employees?
4. Can employees perform second jobs at our work site or during our working hours?
Many employers require that they give approval before an employee takes a second job so they can determine if the job choice will violate company policies. Conflicts of interest can clearly be addressed in business policies; employees are either allowed or not allowed to work for a competitor based on company policy. Allowing workers to use one worksite to perform their other job can also be easily addressed in policies; it’s either allowed or not.
Most of the time, productivity can be measured, so policies should be able to be developed to resolve this issue – people are either meeting productivity goals or not. If they are not, one of the reasons may be that another job is preoccupying them or making them tired and not fully ready for work for the second job.
Of all of these questions, the most complex one to understand is how moonlighting might affect the safety of employees and customers. This gets to the employees’ own moonlighting challenges – ensuring their own and their work associates and customers safety. Can an employee work two jobs and remain ready for work at them both? It depends on the person and the job. Companies and employees have to work together to figure this out.
Just like employers, employees working more than one job, have a lot to think about too. Health and safety should be a big concern. Working a full-time job and another part-time one (or full-time one!), moves workers into the shift work arena. Just like shift workers, employees juggling multiple jobs typically get less sleep and are more stressed. And, high fatigue and stress will eventually affect job performance. These workers will also be more susceptible to accidents because lack of sleep impacts alertness, accuracy, and awareness. Employees need to make sure they are getting enough sleep, rest, and social time. And, they need to abide by safety standards prescribed by their employers and take the necessary and required safety precautions to be successfully performing their work safely.
©Circadian Age, Inc. – ‘Working Nights’
Tags: alertness, fatigue, Human Capital, readiness for work, shift work, sleep, stress
