Almost a million Australians are working multiple jobs to make ends meet as energy costs rise 37 per cent to cripple budgets.

Fresh data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the number of Australians working multiple jobs rose 2.2 per cent in the September quarter to 973,000.

Women continue to outnumber men when it comes to holding down multiple jobs.

About 7.6 per cent of employed women reported having at least one other job while 5.6 per cent of employed men were in the same camp.

While women were more represented here, the number of multiple-job holders amongst employed men rose 10.5 per cent to 428,200 in the September quarter as the number of female multiple-job holders was up just 0.9 per cent to 530,500.

The number of Australians working multiple jobs remained between five and six per cent between 1994 and 2019, but plunged in June 2020 due to the pandemic.

It then bounced back and has sat between 6.4 per cent and 6.7 per cent since June 2022.

The rise in Australians working multiple jobs is a “clear sign that financial pressure is spilling into the workplace”, Reward Gateway’s managing director APAC Kylie Green said.

“When employees are stretched across two or three roles, fatigue and disengagement follow — and that directly impacts performance and retention,” Ms Green told SkyNews.com.au.

“Employers need to broaden their support beyond salary alone by offering flexible benefits, genuine recognition and programs that ease day-to-day financial strain.”

The uptick comes as inflation soared after the pandemic and has resurged 3.8 per cent in the 12 months to October.

The largest contributors to inflation’s rise were housing, up 5.9 per cent, while food and non-alcoholic beverages and recreation and culture both rose 3.2 per cent.

Electricity costs spiked 37.1 per cent as various state government rebates have been used up by households and the impact of the Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates rollout.

Without any impact from the federal and state electricity rebates, electricity prices jumped five per cent.

The hefty price rises come as the rate of Australians working multiple jobs tends to impact those living in less population dense areas to larger degree.

About 9.1 per cent of employed people in Greater Hobart worked multiple jobs while Western Australia, outside Greater Perth, had the second highest rate with 8.7 per cent of workers employed in multiple jobs.

Workers in rural Australia were more likely to work multiple jobs than their counterparts in capital cities.

At least seven per cent of workers outside the major cities had multiple occupations compared to just 6.4 per cent amongst those in the capitals.

Meanwhile, more than eight per cent of those aged 20 to 24 held multiple jobs compared to just 4.8 per cent of those aged over 65.

Administrative and support workers had the highest rate of holding multiple jobs at 8.9 per cent while just 3.2 per cent of those in the electricity, gas, water and waste services sector had another occupation.

Working multiple jobs was something that Bevan Jones, an Adelaide-based father to a three-year-old daughter, had to do to maintain a comfortable living standard for himself and his family.

He works full time in a radio sales position while he moonlights as an MC, radio announcer, podcast host and a freelance journalist for local newspapers.

Mr Jones and his wife purchased a home just before the pandemic and said that making mortgage repayments throughout a time when the cash rate grew from 0.1 per cent to 4.35 per cent had “gradually got harder and harder”.

“The interest rates keep going up all the time and so do your household bills which is extraordinary when you think that (as) we’re going through the challenges that we are, everything keeps on going up,” Mr Jones said.

“It doesn’t make it easy and I can see why so many people are struggling out there and needing to have more than one job to be able to earn a living and live comfortably so you can still go on holidays and that sort of thing as well.”