More Americans ‘polyworking’ to offset inflation, stagnant wages

A growing number of Americans are working second, third, even fourth jobs to offset inflation and stagnant wages.

Labor experts call it polywork — and they say it makes the past practice of moonlighting look downright quaint in today’s gig economy.

“The word was coined during COVID when remote work enabled professionals to have multiple jobs simultaneously,” said Lacey Kaelani, CEO of the job search engine Metaintro.

The term “moonlighting” traditionally described employees with full-time jobs taking on part-time night work to help support their households.

Polywork escalates the more recent notion of a “side hustle,” which often refers to young people working multiple part-time jobs that add up to a full-time wage.

Stephen Dwyer, president of the American Staffing Association, a recruiting industry trade group, said the difference is that polyworkers leverage remote work to earn more than a single full-time salary.

“Having multiple sources of income can protect workers from financial crisis in the event of layoffs,” Mr. Dwyer said in an email.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 5.2% of workers, or 8.4 million adults, hold more than one job, up from 5% in 2024 and higher than the historical norm.

But workforce insiders say the actual number of polyworkers is likely higher, noting that the federal government does not track it as a separate category.

The Census Bureau estimates that steady growth in adults reporting “self-employed” freelance income since 1997 has led to 30 million independent contractors generating about $1.5 trillion in annual revenue.

Analysts say policies fostering generative artificial intelligence, tech industry layoffs, a historically tight entry-level job market,and economic uncertainty linked to Trump administration tariffs have likely driven more people to become polyworkers in recent months.

Robert Merritt, CEO of the manufacturing job placement firm SlateUp, noted that real wages adjusted for inflation have grown by only 0.8% this year, well below the 3% increase in living costs nationwide.

“Basically, inflation is growing faster than wages, which the everyday worker will feel,” Mr. Merritt said.

These economic pressures began before the Trump administration, suggesting that polywork stems from longer-term trends rather than any single administration’s policies.

Brenda Siri, CEO of Corporate Connections, a Texas-based hiring consulting firm, noted that human resources departments added “polywork” to their vocabulary starting in 2023 as AI automated some white-collar roles.

“Neither the Biden nor the Trump administration has taken a negative stance on technology growth,” Ms. Siri said in an email. “Their impact has encouraged the growth and use of AI technology, which in turn feeds into the gig economy and, in the end, polywork.”

Inflationary impacts

Living costs rose sharply during the pandemic period but have cooled significantly over the past year.

According to the U.S. Inflation Calculator, inflation during the first Trump administration ranged from 1.4% to 2.1%. Living costs during the Biden administration rose by 7% in 2021, 6.5% in 2022, 3.4% in 2023 and 2.9% in 2024.

Under the second Trump administration, the inflation rate is 3%.

Some analysts say polywork is increasing partly because the Trump administration’s federal worker layoffs and tariffs on imported goods have dampened hiring.

“The Trump administration tariff rates have jumped around so much that businesses are increasingly taking a ‘wait it out’ approach,” said Sean Higgins, an analyst at the libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute. “With less traditional hiring, you’re naturally going to see more freelance and gig work-type self-employment.”

In an emailed statement, the White House touted recent wage increases, cooling inflation rates and the creation of 600,000 jobs “for native-born Americans” to rebut such claims.

“Americans are still reeling from Joe Biden’s economic disaster, when runaway inflation and mediocre job growth forced everyday Americans to pick up extra work to make ends meet,” said Kush Desai, a White House spokesman. “That’s why the Trump administration has been focused on implementing the same pro-growth agenda that created historic working-class prosperity during President Trump’s first term.”

Others insisted that neither President Trump nor then-President Biden significantly impacted polyworking.

“Polywork is a structural, cultural and technological trend, not a short-run reaction to any single administration,” said Liya Palagashvili, a labor economist at George Mason University’s free market Mercatus Center.

She cited Internal Revenue Service data showing that up to 39% of Americans now engage in polywork when supplemental income is included, reflecting a decades-long increase.

Andrew Crapuchettes, CEO of the right-leaning jobs board RedBalloon, said polywork “can be a great way to gain experience” and skills.

“I am not opposed to this trend if pursued for the right reasons,” Mr. Crapuchettes said.

Future trends

Most workforce experts predict that polywork will become commonplace over the next few years as more employees serve different employers during regular work hours.

“Effectively, there might not be a primary job,” said David Cathey, a hiring expert at the Dallas-based staffing and recruiting company Unity.

He said a typical polywork arrangement might involve teaching a private lesson, delivering food for a delivery app, working at a coffee shop and managing a company’s social media profile, all on the same day.

In June, the American Staffing Association and Harris Poll published a survey that found 64% of employed adults were likely to take on a second job or a side hustle in the coming year. That’s up from 58% in a 2022 survey.

“It’s not a passing fad,” said Chad D. Cummings, a Florida-based attorney who represents federal aerospace and defense contractors. “Rather, it represents a semi-permanent structural shift in how Americans hedge against economic instability.”

That’s not an entirely happy development, some analysts say.

The cybersecurity firm Nisos has warned employers to remain wary of unreported outside income and develop policies to protect against potential fraud.

“In some cases, polywork is even part of a broader scheme, where threat actors gain employment to carry out fraudulent activities, access sensitive data or support adversarial agendas,” said Magen Gicinto, a Nisos human relations strategist.