A new study reveals that poly-employment has reached its highest level in over a decade, with young workers leading a fundamental shift away from traditional careers.
For decades, the full-time job represented the gold standard of employment: stability, benefits, workplace relationships, and a clear path to advancement. But Generation Z is walking away from that ideal in record numbers.
According to workforce management firm Deputy's "The Big Shift 2026" study, poly-employment—working multiple jobs simultaneously—has surged to its highest point in more than ten years. The research, which analyzed over 41 million shifts and 268 million hours worked, found that Gen Z comprises 55% of all poly-employed workers, making them the driving force behind this workplace transformation.
Economic Necessity Meets Cultural Rebellion
While rising living costs and economic uncertainty have pushed many workers into multiple jobs out of financial need, the data reveal a more nuanced picture. A growing number of workers—particularly younger ones—are deliberately choosing poly-employment to gain flexibility and autonomy over their schedules.
This represents a significant departure from the related trend of "overemployment," where workers hold multiple full-time positions simultaneously. While overemployment boosts income, it still tethers employees to traditional desk-bound schedules. Poly-employment, by contrast, offers the flexibility Gen Z increasingly demands.
"For Gen Z, the shift is as much cultural as it is economic—a deliberate break from the traditional workforce they watched chain their parents to the golden handcuffs of a 9-to-5 job," said Silvija Martincevic, CEO of Deputy.
Martincevic explained that Gen Z's work philosophy was shaped by witnessing their parents' experiences: "Gen Z's approach to work is also a reaction to what they saw growing up—long hours, loyalty to a single employer, and then the shock of the 2008 financial crisis. That's shaped a mindset focused on hedging risk rather than relying on one job for stability."
A Squeezed Generation
For many young workers, poly-employment isn't just a preference—it's a response to increasingly limited opportunities. Data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank shows that unemployment rates for recent college graduates now exceed those of the overall workforce.
Facing exclusion from traditional career paths, Gen Z has embraced unconventional work arrangements as a workaround. Some are skipping college entirely in favor of trade careers. Job-hopping—cycling through positions after brief stints—has become a common survival strategy. Poly-employment has emerged as another.
Paradoxically, even when Gen Z workers do secure traditional employment, retaining those positions has proven challenging. A recent Intelligent.com study found that 60% of managers have terminated Gen Z employees within months of hiring them, citing issues including:
- Lack of initiative
- Unprofessional behavior
- Poor organizational skills
- Weak communication
This pattern creates a self-reinforcing cycle, pushing more young workers away from conventional employment and toward the patchwork economy of multiple part-time roles.
The AI Divide: Advantage vs. Resistance
As poly-employment grows, artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly polarizing role among Gen Z workers. The Deputy study identified a significant split between what it calls "poly-advantaged" and "AI-resistant" workers.
Those juggling a full-time position alongside other roles tend to be "AI-advantaged"—leveraging technology to work more efficiently and manage multiple responsibilities.
"AI unlocks predictable schedules, which in turn support more flexible work arrangements," Martincevic noted. "Nearly 75% of shift workers say AI helps them leave on time, underscoring its role in improving efficiency and scheduling."
However, AI presents a double-edged sword. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned that artificial intelligence could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar positions, further shrinking an already constrained job market for new graduates.
Meanwhile, Gen Z workers who intentionally pursue multiple part-time gigs without a full-time anchor tend to be more AI-resistant. For these workers, automation threatens the very positions they're piecing together. A recent study from AI enterprise platform Writer found that 44% of Gen Z workers are actively sabotaging their companies' AI implementation efforts.
Seeking Control in an Uncertain World
Whether embracing or resisting AI, poly-employment offers young workers something increasingly scarce: a sense of agency over their professional lives.
"The rise in poly-employment doesn't signal a weakening job market—it reflects a workforce being reshaped by both economic and generational pressure," Martincevic said.
For Gen Z, multiple jobs aren't just a financial strategy or a compromise—they're a fundamental reimagining of what work can be. In rejecting the single-employer model their parents followed, they're building a new paradigm where flexibility, autonomy, and risk diversification trump traditional loyalty and stability.
Whether this shift represents the future of work or a temporary adaptation to challenging circumstances remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Gen Z isn't waiting for permission to redefine employment on their own terms.