Hairdressers were asked to return to work for three days a week instead of five. Clothing store assistants found themselves with their weekly shifts sliced in half. Office staff were faced with their hours reduced from 30 a week to just 20.
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As the economy moves into post-pandemic recovery mode, thousands of workers are back on the job in what many are describing as a "jobs boom".
The only problem is, however, many of these workers have fewer hours than they want, need or had before the pandemic wreaked havoc on our world.
They are not unemployed but underemployed.
Experts believe the pressure of working several jobs is not sustainable on a long-term basis. They believe those who walk the tightrope of several jobs for lengthy periods are prime candidates for burnout and mental ill-health.
Underemployment has given rise to a new category of worker - the jobs juggler - who hunts down and takes on two, three or possibly four different gigs to ensure their working hours approach something akin to a full-time role.
The latest official figures show that while Australia's underemployment rate has improved, it remains uncomfortably high at 8.5 per cent, well ahead of the unemployment rate of 6.6 per cent.
But for underemployed women the situation is even worse.
Their underemployment rate is 10.2 per cent, well ahead of the 7.1 per cent figure of their male counterparts.
And imagine the work-life balance pressure faced by a jobs juggler who works 12 hours a week as a retail assistant, seven hours a week as an aged care worker and 15 hours of night work a week in a call centre.
Most people remain ignorant about the predicament faced by those working two, three or more separate roles - and often across different industries.
For starters, there is often little sympathy for those juggling multiple jobs.
Their complicated work situation often attracts comments such as "well at least you're working" or "several small jobs are better than no job at all".
Once walking the tightrope of several jobs, it can also be difficult to transition to a single full-time role.
This is primarily because having multiple roles means there is often little time left to hunt down vacancies, write job applications and attend interviews, or scheduling conflicts due to the multiple commitments.
Some job jugglers also complain that while their multiple employments help to pay the bills, it can hinder opportunities for full-time work by making resumes look "spotty".
To make matters worse, most job jugglers have no job security nor continuity when it comes to income levels.
A causal role one week might be 15 hours of work but only five the following week.
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Even basic logistics can create pressure for those who work for several masters.
Two or three different sets of clothing or uniforms for different jobs and shuttling back and forth to myriad workplaces can add significantly to day-to-day working life pressures and expenses.
It also leaves little room to move when things - as they sometimes do - go wrong, or for unexpected delays.
Experts believe the pressure of working several jobs is not sustainable on a long-term basis.
They believe those who walk the tightrope of several jobs for lengthy periods are prime candidates for burnout and mental ill-health.
And the negatives far outweigh the few advantages of being a job juggler.
While positives such as not having all your employment eggs in one basket, developing an extensive network because you have several jobs and gaining experience in different types of workplaces do crop up, the toll the juggling takes is far more problematic.
High underemployment rates are likely to stay with us for some time, which means job juggling will remain a prominent and disturbing feature - particularly, and unfortunately, for women.
- Professor Gary Martin is a social affairs and workplace expert with the Australian Institute of Management.
