Indeed finds one in six job seekers already work multiple jobs

Nearly 16% of active job seekers were already working multiple jobs in late 2025, a sign that retail hiring is colliding with a labor market built around second paychecks, split commutes and tight household budgets. For Big Lots, that is less a headline about side gigs than a daily reality check on scheduling, attendance and retention.

Indeed Hiring Lab said about one in six active job seekers was already holding more than one position at the time of the search. The pattern was strongest in hourly work: food preparation and service was the largest occupation group among multiple-job seekers at almost 17%, while delivery driver was the single most common job title. Retail also ranked among the leading categories, which puts stores like Big Lots squarely in the middle of the trend.

The practical takeaway is simple. If a large share of potential hires is already balancing another job, the employer that offers predictable shifts, fewer last-minute changes and less guesswork around childcare or transportation has an edge. At Big Lots, where staffing pressure has been sharpened by restructuring, scheduling is not just an HR function. It is part of whether stores stay open with enough people on the floor, in the stockroom and at the register.

That backdrop is especially important because Big Lots has been operating under severe strain since filing voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions on September 9, 2024. The company’s 2024 annual report said it operated 1,392 stores at February 3, 2024, and a May 2024 SEC filing still described 1,392 stores across 48 states. Revelio Labs estimated Big Lots Stores had 5,472 employees in 2025, down 26.3% from 2024, a much leaner footprint that makes every shift change and every call-out more consequential.

The broader labor data say this is not a one-off quirk. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 8.8 million multiple jobholders in 2025, or 5.4% of employed workers, up from 8.431 million and 5.2% in 2024. In other words, the squeeze is spreading across the workforce, and retail chains are competing for people who are already committed somewhere else.

Research on predictable scheduling points to why that matters. Harvard Kennedy School summarized findings from Seattle’s fair-workweek rules, which took effect in 2017 and required two weeks’ notice for schedules in covered retail and food service jobs at larger employers. The research found better worker well-being, sleep quality and economic security. New York City now requires retail schedules to be posted 72 hours before the first shift and bars on-call shifts, while Chicago’s Fair Workweek Ordinance covers certain retail employers that meet size and pay thresholds.

The message for Big Lots is blunt. In a market where so many workers are already piecing together more than one paycheck, flexibility is not a perk on the margin. It is a daily condition that can keep stores staffed or push good employees out the door.