It is ‘an illusion’ that workers can get all their job satisfaction from one job, says labor market expert Luc Dorenbosch (43). Meaning or satisfaction, he means by this, and finding ‘challenges’. Or using all your skills, gaining social contacts and finding a certain (financial) stability – what people look for in work is sometimes simply too much to cram into one job. Dorenbosch: “The ‘single-lane model’ may provide a certain peace of mind, but you often compromise in another area.”
For years Dorenbosch conducted research into the labor market at research institute TNO, including into workers with more jobs. “In 2015 I thought: I have to put into practice what I research myself.” He founded his own company with which he advises organizations on how they can design their work differently. In addition, he works two days a week as an assessor of grant applications for research projects at the Innovative in Work foundation.
The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has been measuring an increase in the number of people with two ‘jobs’ for years.: two jobs, or a job as an employee, combined with an (independent) company. Last year there were 544,000 employees – more than the 356,000 the agency counted at the beginning of 2003. What drives these people?
The TNO National Working Conditions Survey 2021, an annual poll of some 50,000 people about various aspects of their work, provides some answer. Of all the respondents who multi-jobbing doing, as TNO puts it, stated roughly a quarter wanted more variety in work or colleagues. Another quarter indicated that they would like to develop more skills.
Also read: Variety, being practical: a side job is not that crazy after all
For a large part of the other respondents with two jobs, the reasoning for this is financial in nature. Some want to earn more with two jobs for ‘something extra’ (17 percent), others have a second job to make ends meet (12 percent) or to have more financial security (9 percent).
According to Andries de Grip, the financial reasons are related to the way in which the labor market has been structured in recent years: with a strong increase in flexible work. Temporary and zero-hour contracts are in vogue, says the economics professor at Maastricht University, as is self-employment. Between 2013 and 2021, the number of self-employed increased from about 900,000 to almost 1.1 million.
Not only have many temporary jobs been created in recent years, but also employment contracts that offer less than a full working week. Many of these flexible jobs can be found in sectors that pay relatively little, such as cleaning or catering, says De Grip. “If you want to have enough income, you have to have multiple jobs.”
He makes a distinction between this group and the working poor, which you see especially in the United States. De Grip: “These are people who work forty hours or more and can barely make ends meet, and then have to take another job. I think in the Netherlands it’s more about adding up small jobs to get by on forty hours a week.”
Single mother
49-year-old Naima Nafi, trained as a carer, for a time divided her working week between two employers. She came to the Netherlands from Canada two years ago. In the middle of the corona pandemic, she started working 24 hours a week at the source and contact investigation department of the GGD. She didn’t have more hours, but that wasn’t enough for a single mother of two, she says.
To make ends meet, she decided to work at a care home nearby. That hit her hard. The night shifts she had to work and the combination of two employers was sometimes difficult. Tasks and activities started to get mixed up, sifting through schedules – hers and her children’s – was not always easy. “It was confusing to my brain,” she says. “I lasted two months. Then it became too much.” In the end, the GGD was able to use her for more hours a week.
Labor market expert Dorenbosch is, after years of practical experience, very enthusiastic about combining two jobs. His work is more diverse than before and therefore more satisfying.
But, Dorenbosch admits, combining has its “challenges” and is not for everyone. For example, it is important to keep one’s own integrity in mind, which is not always easy when the jobs are in the same work area. They should not clash with each other or provide benefits. “Obviously, if I’m working on a project with my company, as an assessor for grant applications, I can’t judge it,” he says. “You should always be aware of these tires. Be strict with yourself and stay away from integrity issues.”
It also requires planning and consultation. “You have to be able to plan well and make agreements with your employers or business partner, and also with your family,” he says – for example about which days you work where, and whether any changes are possible, what possible exceptions are to be made. deviate from the agreements. His tip is to devise this as concretely as possible and to present it to other parties, such as a business partner or manager.
Dorenbosch himself has made agreements that enable him to flexibly fill his office job as an assessor of subsidy applications. He works the hours that his employer expects, but spread over the week or month, as it suits him. “When an order comes in for my company, I can decide to spend a full week on it. Then the following week I can go back to work at my employer’s desk,” he says. “In exchange for this flexibility, I forgo wage increases. If I miss an assignment, it ultimately costs me a lot more money.”
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of August 16, 2022
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