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The cleaning sector is seeing a surge in people seeking extra sources of income as the cost-of-living crisis bites.
A survey by staffing platform redwigwam has revealed the full impact that the crisis is having on people’s lives already.
The research, carried out over the weekend, showed that 77 per cent are looking for extra work to make ends meet and 59 per cent are looking for extra work on top of a full or part-time job.
Thirty-three per cent don’t have a regular job and are juggling a number of recruitment agencies to find work.
Over half of those polled said they are ‘depending’ on flexible temporary jobs to help them cope with the cost of living.
Rising energy bills are the biggest concern by far for people and the cost of living is more worrying than the Ukraine war and Covid.
Some 66 per cent are eating out less, 67 per cent are trying to use less electricity and gas and 60 per cent have slashed their spending at the supermarket,
Over 43 per cent have cut back on driving while 38 per cent have stopped paid subscriptions such as Netflix and gym memberships.
Almost 40 per cent of those polled are not going on holiday this year.
Redwigwam, a platform for flexible staff and a specialist in the cleaning sector, has seen a huge uplift in the number of people registering for work with them.
Lorna Davidson, CEO of redwigwam, said: “Since the start of April we have seen an 800 per cent increase in the number of people registering for extra work on our platform.
“We saw a similar record number of registrations at the start of the pandemic. This is like another pandemic. The soaring cost of living is a horror story for people and they are panicking.
“It’s very clear that people are desperately looking for ways of making extra money and they’re taking on extra work on top of their day jobs.
“One of the main areas where we are seeing a significant increase concerns people looking for cleaning jobs. They’re looking for flexible four or six-hour shifts so they can fit them around their other work.
“Our survey shows that 62 per cent of people depend on their car but if they can’t afford to fill it, how are they going to be able to get to work?
“We’re reminding our hirers that staff are their most important commodity, and they need to be doing everything they can to help them. That includes paying them properly, paying them daily if required and helping them with transport to and from work.
“They also need to be really flexible and offer shorter shifts of just a few hours to attract all those people looking for ways of topping up their income.”
