Shift workers are being rostered fewer hours each month, resulting in more Australians entering poly-employment
With nearly one million Australians holding multiple jobs, Deputy’s August Hourly Work Index finds employers are locking in shifts earlier as workers piece together income across increasingly fragmented weeks.
Sydney, 11 September 2026 — As nearly one million Australians now hold more than one job, predictable rostering is becoming a frontline retention strategy, not simply an administrative task, according to Deputy’s August 2026 Hourly Work Index.
The Index, which analyses anonymised and aggregated workforce data across healthcare, hospitality, retail and services, found employers locked in shifts an average of 8.3 days ahead in August, up 24.1% on July and 47% higher than January’s 5.6-day average. Every sector rostered further ahead than in July.
That shift comes as Australia’s second-job economy becomes entrenched. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows 978,000 Australians, or 6.5% of employed people, held more than one job in March 2026. The ABS says the multiple-jobholding rate has remained between 6.4% and 6.7% since June 2022, after sitting largely between 5% and 6% in the decades before the pandemic. Workers aged 20 to 24 were the most likely to hold multiple jobs, at 10.3%.
The Index shows why advance notice matters. Total hours worked fell 7.7% month-on-month in August, the steepest monthly decrease of 2026 and the first month in which all four sectors declined together. Average hourly pay rose 1.8% to $37.26, consistent with the Fair Work Commission’s annual award increase flowing through the second month of the financial year.
In August, Millennials and Gen X were rostered around 86 hours each across the month, while Gen Z was rostered 72 hours and Boomers 69 hours, against a 164-hour full-time equivalent. The average single shift ranged from 6 hours and 32 minutes for Gen Z to 7 hours and 9 minutes for Millennials. For workers balancing another role, a roster received late can make the difference between accepting available work and missing it.
“The 8.3-day rostering figure is the most important number in this month’s Index,” said Ciaran Hale, Chief Technology Officer at Deputy. “It shows employers are starting to treat certainty as part of the employment offer. For many hourly workers, a second or third role is no longer unusual. When one roster does not fill a week, people need enough notice to coordinate another job, caring responsibilities or study. Predictability is what makes those working arrangements viable. Employers appear to understand that. They are absorbing higher award rates by planning more deliberately, not simply by cutting people loose. The businesses that give their teams a roster they can build a life around will be the ones best placed to retain them.”
The strongest changes came from healthcare industries, where workforce shortages and multiple jobholding often intersect. In-home care lifted its average notice period by 102% to 12.1 days; care facilities by 53% to 10.5 days; and NDIS providers by 51% to 10.2 days. Healthcare as a whole scheduled 13.5 days ahead, the longest planning horizon in the Index. The results suggest businesses competing for scarce care workers are using a known roster as a way to help them coordinate the rest of their lives and working week.
Across the broader workforce, the data suggests employers are stabilising teams rather than shrinking them. Terminations fell 21.4%, the lowest monthly total of 2026, while new hires were effectively flat. Retail and services both added workers while reducing hours per employee, a sign that work is being spread across more people rather than concentrated in fewer roles.
About the Australian Hourly Work Index
Deputy’s Australian Hourly Work Index is a monthly view of hourly work across healthcare, hospitality, retail and services. It uses anonymised and aggregated customer and user data from Deputy’s world of work and industry insights platform. Results are statistically normalised to account for seasonality and natural weekly workforce-demand fluctuations.
About Deputy
Deputy is the intuitive, people platform built specifically for shift work. Trusted by over 1.5 million shift workers and 380,000 workplaces in more than 100 countries, Deputy brings together AI-powered scheduling, compliance automation, accurate payroll and mobile-first communication to help businesses run more efficiently and teams feel empowered. Discover more at www.deputy.com
