Take Cassidy Williams, a Chicagoan who works as a software engineer. She’s also an advisor, investor, mentor, writer, public speaker and podcast

The Job Juggle: Gen Z and millennial employees embrace the concept of ‘Polywork’

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2021-06-26 19:00:05

Take Cassidy Williams, a Chicagoan who works as a software engineer. She’s also an advisor, investor, mentor, writer, public speaker and podcast host.

“Work is something that takes up such a huge part of my life, so doing different types of work keeps it more interesting and exciting,” she said. “People have the ability now more than ever to collaborate, create and just do things that don’t fall into one bucket. We’re past the age of being just one type of worker.”

Then there’s Richard Fearn, based in London, who runs a nonprofit, manages investments — and is in the middle of producing a musical. “I’ve never liked the idea of just doing the same thing every day,” he said. “I have multiple interests that I’m passionate about and they’ve naturally become different streams of income for me. Modern working attitudes and flexible technology allows my generation to juggle a multitude of things in a way we’ve never been able to before.”

The professional workforce, particularly millennials (aged between 25 and 40 years old) and Gen Z (up to 24 years old), is increasingly rejecting the concept of a full-time job and a single boss in favor of something that’s being dubbed “polywork,” or having multiple jobs at once.