Why would anyone want to spend more time at work rather than with family if they are financially resilient?
Does one have any inherent tendency to work multiple jobs or is it any situation that forces them to do so?
It is dismaying to live under an economic system that is as exploitative as the one that is prevalent. Indeed, in the post-Covid neo-liberal capitalist world hit by inflation and rising costs, the worries have only exacerbated. So, overemployment which is fancily referred to as career polygamy is by all means here to stay!
Another factor that has in a significant way contributed to this phenomenon is the drastic shift in values and priorities. The pandemic gave workers enough time to consider their lifestyles and style of work carefully, which has made a large number of them realize that there is more to life than mere work and that their ability to do a job really depends on their satisfaction with and attachment to it. This, coupled with their desire to learn, improve, and develop professionally has got them to doing an assortment of jobs. Many now are glad to invest their time in internalizing new skills as they expand their horizons while diversifying their career in exchange for as many sources of income.
Meanwhile, the demand for new workers and talent continues to snowball. According to an article published on The Washington Post in May 2022, based on Bureau of Labor statistics, “U.S. employers posted a record 11.5 million job openings in March, and some 4.5 million Americans quit or changed positions, matching previous highs, reflecting continued strength in the rapidly growing labor market, where workers continue to have the upper hand …
Meanwhile, the number of new hires — 6.7 million — remained steady.” It further adds that, “U.S. employers have added more than 400,000 jobs a month for nearly a year,” and “overall, the number of job openings have grown by 36 percent in March from a year earlier. Demand for workers has risen markedly in retail (where job openings increased by 155,000 from February), manufacturing (up 75,000) and finance and insurance (up 51,000).”
Such desperate need for workers has also left no choice with the employers but to increase wages and offer better benefits. Besides, there is enormous growth in freelancing, and while the reasons for it could be similar (which includes unceremonious layoffs and mass resignations) there is absolutely no doubt that it shall continue to grow. As data clearly suggest, advertising, human resources, and marketing jobs are increasingly turning into freelance positions, and some experts reasonably predict that freelancers would constitute the majority of workforce by the year 2027.
Career monogamy is characterized by the imposing exclusivity clause that binds employers to a contract that ensures fidelity to one company in their respective positions of employment.
With the ongoing polygamy, that clause now makes no sense and is rather petty. Polygamy burnishes one’s portfolio with a variety of projects and recommendations, whether you are a designer, marketer, engineer, doctor, or a professor. Handling a load of responsibilities makes one multitasking. It is a skill! It turns one into an all-round personality with a breadth of knowledge and experience that cannot be captured in a single, standard, chronological CV.
With a platform as Badgefree that actively promotes and encourages talent from all walks of life to pursue what they love, helps form communities made up of them and those that seek them, more opportunities are created, and there is complete freedom of choice – both in terms of using one’s skills to perform a number of job functions and also to craft one’s own job, thereby choosing whom to work with.
As the working landscape sees a paradigm shift, for employers it would be terribly counterproductive to not let talent flourish in the name of commitment rather than embracing and using it to increase their own productivity. However, the question that we would still let hover over your heads is, has the labour market irreversibly spiraled into a stage where career polygamy has become inevitable and how threatening is that our life in society as a whole?
