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 (ABS) 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%.
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 six hours and 32 minutes for Gen Z to seven hours and nine minutes for Millennials.
The importance of certainty
Deputy Chief Technology Officer Ciaran Hale says the 8.3-day rostering figure is the most important number in this month’s index.
“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,” he says.
“When one roster doesn’t 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’re 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.”
Stabilising teams
The data also 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.
