Many are needing to turn to second jobs to pay the bills. Photo: 123RF
From police officers to IT workers, people are picking up second jobs to make ends meet.
As part of Checkpoint's series Crunching the Numbers, we're drilling into the detail of people's finances and this week, we've spoken to people with full-time jobs who are burning out because they're having to find side hustles to stay financially afloat.
Avinash Kaur Dhaliwal works for an IT company in Auckland and on top of her full-time job, she became a marriage celebrant to help pay for extra expenses.
People picking up second jobs to make ends meet
She said the money from her second job goes towards everyday needs like groceries, petrol and public transport costs, as half price fares have now ended in Auckland.
"Nowadays we've reduced our expenses so much, before we used to fill our grocery trolley, now it is less than half a trolley, we spend less everywhere now," she said.
A man who doesn't want to be named said he's a teacher, but on top of his job five days a week, he is also a self-employed video editor.
He said some weeks, he has had to work up to 60 hours a week to make ends meet.
"I'd be teaching throughout weekdays doing any photo, video work and the evenings on Friday and then on Saturday and Sunday I'd quite often be playing at wedding and then playing at a winery on Sunday and then back to work on Monday and I just felt incredibly burnt out," he said.
Figures from Stats NZ released in July show the annual cost of living for the average New Zealand household has jumped up by 5.4 percent from June last year to this year.
Another 33,000 more New Zealanders are also jobless this year, compared to the same time in 2023.
With unemployment on the rise and cuts in the health sector, a 111 call operator Checkpoint spoke to felt she needed to work an extra job for security.
She has always dabbled in photography but has turned to it as a way to get more cash to live on and put some towards further tertiary study.
"It helps me feel a bit more in control of my own finances and feels like I've got some security, with all of the budget cuts," she said.
"It gives me more security to feel like, okay, well, at least if something goes wrong here, I've always got back up."
Her full-time job involves highly stressful situations and can have an impact on her mental health, but she said her side hustle also gives her a creative outlet away from work.
"Not a lot of people can do the job and I like to be able to help people in high stress situations, because even in their darkest moment, I can sort of be someone to help," she said.
"Rather than if I was doing photography full time, I wouldn't be able to help people necessarily in the ways I want to."
She said many of her colleagues also have side hustles, alongside their full time jobs and it is becoming increasingly common.
In July, an email sent to Canterbury police gave advice to cops on how to manage side hustles while staff waited on the outcome of pay negotiations.
It said: police supports its employees to undertake secondary employment to provide extra income for their families and labelled dog walking, building and personal training as acceptable.
Over the last two years, police said they have had 1374 requests from police officers for secondary employment.
In a statement to Checkpoint, police said all staff considering secondary employment are required to seek approval to ensure there are no conflicts of interest, no risks to their safety or well-being and that public trust in confidence in police is not compromised.