Working more than one job has become increasingly common in Spain, with a Randstad survey finding that 55% of workers have combined two or more jobs at some point during their working lives.

The study, based on responses from more than 4,500 professionals across Spain, found that around one in ten workers were still combining several jobs at the time of the survey.

Economic reasons were the most commonly cited motivation.

41% Say They Work More Than One Job to Increase Income

Among workers with more than one job, 41% said their main reason for doing so was to increase their income.

A further 24% said they combined jobs to cover basic expenses, while 22% said they did so because of a lack of stability in their main employment.

Taken together, those figures show that financial considerations play a significant role in why people take on additional work.

Other workers said they combined jobs for personal interests, professional motivations or other reasons.

Three in Four Would Reduce Their Workload Under Better Conditions

The survey also asked workers with multiple jobs whether they would reduce their workload if conditions in their main job improved.

Randstad found that 76% would reduce the amount of work they do if their main employment offered better conditions.

Another 17.5% said they would do so if their salary were sufficient.

Only a small proportion said they genuinely enjoyed combining several professional activities.

The Situation Can Last for Years

For some workers, having several jobs is not a short-term arrangement.

Randstad found that 30% of multiple jobholders had been combining more than one job for longer than three years.

Another 30% had been doing so for less than six months, while 24% reported a period of between one and three years and 17% between six months and one year.

The survey also found that 64% of secondary work arrangements involved employment contracts, while 24% included self-employed activity.

Hostelry and Tourism Among the Main Sectors

The phenomenon is particularly visible in sectors where seasonal and flexible employment is common.

Hostelry and tourism accounted for 30% of the multiple jobholders identified in the survey, followed by commerce and customer service at 24%.

Transport and logistics accounted for 17%, while production and manufacturing represented 15.5%.

The findings are particularly relevant to regions such as the Balearic Islands, where tourism and hospitality form a major part of the local labour market.

Balearic Islands Record a Notable Figure

The Balearic Islands recorded the highest proportion among Spain's autonomous communities in Randstad's survey.

A reported 84.2% of workers in the islands said they had combined more than one job at some point in their working lives.

The figure was followed by Murcia at 62.7% and Navarra at 62.6%.

It is important to note that the Balearic figure refers to having experienced multiple employment at some point, rather than saying that 84.2% of workers in the islands currently have a second job.

Multiple Employment Has Reached Record Levels

Separate analysis by Randstad Research found that 632,800 employed people in Spain had a second job at the end of 2025.

That was around 50,000 more people than a year earlier and was described by Randstad as the highest figure recorded.

The increase has taken place alongside continued growth in Spain's overall employed population.

The Economic Context

Randstad linked the growing prevalence of multiple employment to the effort many workers make to deal with higher living costs and pressure on purchasing power.

The survey also examined the personal impact of combining jobs.

Around 23.5% of respondents said multiple employment caused fatigue or stress, while 11% said it had a direct negative impact on their health or personal relationships.

At the same time, 46% viewed the arrangement positively, particularly because of the additional income and flexibility it could provide.

What the Figures Mean for the Balearics

For the Balearic Islands, the findings provide an indication of how widespread experience of multiple employment has been among workers in the region.

The tourism and hospitality sector is one of the areas where multiple employment is most common nationally, making the issue particularly relevant to a seasonal economy such as the Balearics.

However, the survey measures workers' experiences and motivations and should not be interpreted as a direct measurement of the current number of people holding several jobs in Ibiza.

A Growing Feature of Spain's Labour Market

The Randstad study shows that having more than one job is no longer a marginal feature of the Spanish labour market.

More than half of workers surveyed said they had combined two or more jobs at some point in their careers, while economic reasons accounted for the largest share of motivations among those with multiple jobs.

With Randstad's separate data showing more than 630,000 people with a second job at the end of 2025, multiple employment continues to be an important feature of Spain's changing labour market.