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In the UK, more than a million people have taken on additional jobs due to rising living costs, job insecurity, and shifts in various industries, leading to an expansion of the gig economy. Among them is Billy-Jo Pierce, a 29-year-old from Birmingham living in Bristol, the country’s second most costly city. She describes her life as operating in “survival mode,” balancing multiple roles to manage financially in a challenging economic environment. Despite her passion for her work, Billy-Jo admits the pressure and exhaustion are significant.
Billy-Jo’s workweek is intensive, spanning 50 to 60 hours. Her main venture involves decorating customers’ teeth with cosmetic gems, which she runs as a business. Alongside this, she fills gaps with reception work, bartending, festival jobs, and selling clothes online. Her entrepreneurial path began during university, where, despite earning a first-class degree in interior design, she found it difficult to secure a role in her chosen field. To make ends meet, she initially took a nine-to-five gaming job, pursuing her own business during off-hours. She recalls the overwhelming workload and lack of social life, describing the experience as being stuck in a “rat race” that felt unwinnable. After losing her job last year, Billy-Jo committed fully to her business but realized that, especially in Bristol with its steep expenses, one income was insufficient. Consequently, she now lives in a van and works multiple jobs just to support herself and her venture.
The trend towards juggling several jobs is echoed by freelance graphic designer Engy Elboreini, also based in Bristol. Having spent over ten years in design, she has seen the rise of artificial intelligence and widely available tools like Canva diminish the demand for traditional graphic design services. She identifies the last couple of years as her toughest financially. With AI enabling clients to undertake their own design work, Engy has had to diversify her income sources, taking on roles in creative production and coordination while retraining in events management. Despite scaling back on non-essential spending, she remains engaged with the creative community, noting that finding solutions amid scarcity is part of a creative’s resilience.
For some, like Hollie—a single mother from Bristol—the shift to multiple jobs is motivated not just by financial strain but also the need for flexibility. Hollie began working as a life model through a recommendation, a role that accommodates her son Max’s school schedule. Along with part-time legal assistant work and occasional TV extra roles, life modeling offers her a way to avoid the exhaustion and low pay of minimum wage jobs while spending more time with her child. She admits that while financial worries persist, the experience has helped lessen her vulnerability. Hollie highlights the ongoing pressure many gig workers feel due to lack of guaranteed income, explaining that the constant anxiety over bills and job security has become a defining feature of modern work life. Yet, she also sees changing economic realities as influencing how people view work and adapt to survive
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