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The last time I caught up with a friend, she asked how I had been doing. I told her I'm currently juggling three jobs: one full-time and two freelance.
She was surprised, then impressed, then a bit worried. Wasn't I being overly ambitious?
Salary increases aren't keeping pace with rising living costs, I explained. At the same time, companies are facing their own pressures. In my case, performance bonuses from last year are already several months delayed. Our bosses cited economic instability, but offered little clarity beyond that.
Because of all this, I said, one source of income is no longer enough to get by.
After I got home, the conversation stayed with me. What if the situation at my company gets worse? What if I end up losing one of the jobs I rely on?
The more I sat with these thoughts, the more I realized I can’t be the only one feeling this.
This is not a Gen Z thing
Khusuf Komarhana, a Gen Z legal consultant who balances corporate work while running his own consulting firm, is living a similar reality.
For him, having multiple jobs is not simply about ambition, but necessity. As part of the sandwich generation he is responsible not only for himself but also for his family. Having backups is a must.
“One job is no longer enough to cover basic needs for me, let alone my family,” he said.
At first, I thought this feeling was specific to my generation, which is often described as the most anxious.
But that assumption doesn't fully reflect reality. A May 2025 report by Kompas on the rise of polyworking, or holding multiple jobs simultaneously, highlights that the trend extends well beyond Gen Z, with a significant share of millennials also taking on more than one source of income.
This is not a generational quirk. It's a structural shift.
Rastrianez, a senior HR practitioner, says many employees today are working in survival mode. A full-time job no longer guarantees long-term security, and workers are increasingly aware of that.
“The way people see job stability is changing, not just for Gen Z, but for millennials as well,” she said.
It’s due to overlapping forces, she explained: a combination of macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical situations that affect industries, the job market and eventually individuals.
That explanation made me reflect more deeply on my own experience growing up.
Rethinking stability in this economy
Our situation today is starkly different from the one I grew up in.
My father relied on a single source of income, yet it was enough to support our family of four and send me and my sister to school. Stability felt real.
Today, that sense feels much harder to find.
As a young adult, this realization still catches me off guard. I used to think that by the time I reached this stage of life, I would have things more figured out. Instead, even the idea of having a truly stable source of income feels difficult to hold on to.
I’m increasingly realizing that stability is not something you achieve. It’s something you are constantly trying to maintain.
This tension becomes more visible when I look at how people begin to redefine stability itself. Yova Sianturi, who previously worked in HR within the hospitality industry and now runs her own HR agency, experienced this shift herself.
During the pandemic, she had to lay off employees while taking on increasing responsibilities. At one point, she managed the entire HR function alone after operational cuts gutted her team.
“That was the moment I started questioning stability,” she said.
What stood out was not only the disruption, but how quickly roles that once felt secure could change. Positions that had previously been associated with continuity were suddenly subject to immediate restructuring.
But rather than seeing stability as something provided by a company, she began to view it differently.
“Stability doesn’t come from a company; it’s something we create within ourselves.”
What Yova said made me rethink what I used to believe about adulthood. I used to associate work with stability, but in reality, it can be disrupted at any time by factors outside our control.
Creating our own stability
I won’t sugarcoat it: Juggling three jobs can be overwhelming. It often feels like I’m trading my youth to work all the time just to sustain a life I cannot always enjoy. But given the times we live in, it feels like the logical choice.
We do not know what will happen tomorrow. The ground keeps shifting. Conflicts between countries, political tensions and economic instability all eventually affect the job market.
Competition is also getting tougher. The rising number of job seekers means more people are willing to accept lower pay, which further weakens overall compensation.
In this reality, having a side job is no longer a sign of ambition. It’s become one of the most practical ways to get by. For many, it provides a layer of financial security and some semblance of control over their situation.
I do not know how long this way of living will last, or whether things will ever return to what I once saw growing up. But for now, this is the reality many of us face.
So to answer my friend’s question: no, juggling three jobs is not me being overambitious. It’s just another Tuesday.
