Almost every second inhabitant of the Sverdlovsk region today has two, and some even three jobs. These are the data of the regional department of statistics. Half of the residents of Rostov-on-Don and St. Petersburg are looking for part-time jobs.
Every tenth working resident of the Leningrad region already has two types of activities. What makes people take several jobs – is money the main thing here? How does this affect the labor market, affect the workaholics themselves and their families? Correspondents of “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” understood this.
“Over the past few months, more than five thousand residents of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region have posted resumes marked “side work,” said Maria Buzunova, head of the press service for hh.ru North-West. Interested in temporary workers and employers. In a month, almost 14 thousand options for part-time work were made public. “This is 250 percent more than a year earlier,” Maria emphasizes. “On average, 52.5 thousand are paid for a part-time job.”
According to labor market experts, interest in additional income became especially evident at the beginning of the pandemic. And today this trend has only strengthened. The answer to the question why people are looking for a second, or even a third job, often fits into a simple formula: “we need money.”
As Anna Dyachkova, associate professor at the Institute of Economics and Management of the Ural Federal University, explains, in an environment where incomes are declining, people are ready to work hard. In addition, at some enterprises, wages were delayed during the pandemic. In the Middle Urals, for example.
As specialists of recruitment services note, most often people with higher education are looking for a part-time job. Those who can work evenings and weekends. A classic example is part-time jobs for doctors and teachers. Almost all of them work for one and a half, two or even three rates. You can’t live on one.
A teacher from the Rostov region earns money by growing turkeys at home. She has regular clients. Earned 50 thousand rubles in December
But teachers also have almost exotic part-time jobs. A teacher from the village of Sinyavskoye, Rostov Region, Elena Viktorovna, grows turkey houses. “In December, when poultry is being slaughtered, it turned out to earn 50,000.” As a second and third job for people with higher education, tutoring, translations, proofreading, and the development of design projects are common.
Students are also working. “I have several students, the hour of work is a thousand. We work with each one two or three times a week,” said Natalya from the Southern Federal University. She works as an English tutor.
The opportunity to work remotely only expanded the possibilities of additional earnings. But money is only one side of the issue.
Infographics “RG” / Leonid Kuleshov / Inessa Suvorova
According to Anna Dyachkova, even before the coronavirus, the balance of free and working time for many people turned out to be shifted in favor of work. Middle-aged people, “35+”, today work hard, consciously sacrificing their free time. At this most active age, it is very important for a person to build a career. And he is ready to work hard, continuing to look for himself in different fields.
And often a part-time job becomes a hobby. 30-year-old Arkady Ivanov from Rostov-on-Don builds bridges on a rotational basis at his main job. “When I have a rest, I make booths for dogs and houses for cats to order,” says Arkady. “At first I made my own. It turned out well.
And yet, in the first place for those who are looking for a part-time job, this is money. According to a recruiting company in St. Petersburg, people expect to receive 30 to 50 percent in addition to their basic income. Almost a third of them are in dire need of additional income, for another 21 percent, part-time work is a very important part of the family budget. It is the needs of the family that encourage people to look for a part-time job, Anna Dyachkova sums up: “As a rule, money is no longer enough when a second, and even more so a third child is born.”
Is workaholism beneficial to employers and the labor market in general? For them, definitely yes. This allows the employer to optimize labor costs. At the same time, the market as a whole becomes more flexible and adaptive. After all, workers are effectively distributed among enterprises. As for the workaholics themselves, here, of course, not everything is clear. More often, a person is forced to sacrifice free time to the detriment of health, his family, and, what is most sad, he communicates less with children.