Moonlighters: Working 'round the clock

More Americans are working multiple jobs.

For four hours a morning, Kathie Brennan works as a secretary at Cape Girardeau's Alternative Education Center, where she answers phones, types letters and helps students check in and out of the building.

After lunch, Brennan heads to the mall and one of her two jobs in retail, where she unloads freight, folds and tags merchandise and assists customers at American Eagle and Bath & Body Works.

The weekends offer no breather. She also works at Trail of Tears State Park as a "seasonal naturalist," where she oversees nature programs and explaining the history of the park to visitors.

Kathie Brennan of Cape Girardeau works four different jobs -- sometimes several in one day. On Tuesday, Brennan's day began by working a half day at job No. 1 (bottom left, clockwise) as a secretary at Cape Girardeau's Alternative Education Center. By 11 a.m. she was unloading freight at job No. 2, American Eagle. Although Brennan didn't work job No. 3 on this particular day, she took time to stop by Bath & Body Works, where she can be found working some afternoons. On Friday, Brennan moved onto job No. 4, working from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Trail Of Tears State Park Visitors Center, where in this case she showed off a reptilian "co-worker."

Forty-hour work week? You've got to be kidding.

Some weeks, she works as many as 95 hours.

"I come home, I'm dead," she said last week between phone calls at the alternative school. "Some nights, I don't get home until 1 or 2 in the morning and I have to be back to work at 7:30. There are some pretty hard days."

Brennan is perhaps an extreme example of a growing group of hard-working Americans known as moonlighters. Not many people work four jobs, but more and more are working more than one.

About 7.3 million workers, or about 5 percent of the nation's workforce, work at least two jobs, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2005. That's up from this time 10 years ago, when only 6.5 million Americans had more than one job.

Not surprisingly, most people work extra jobs in order to make more money. According to a 2001 Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, 35.4 percent of moonlighters said their primary reason for working two or more jobs was to earn extra income -- perhaps to save for the future or shore up cash for a big purchase.

Others, like Brennan -- and 27 percent of survey respondents -- said they need the extra money to pay monthly expenses. Brennan and her husband are also putting two daughters through college.

"And I refuse to saddle my kids with student loans," she said. "It's hard enough for kids to get a start in this world without having to start out deep in debt."

The Brennans also refuse to own credit cards and their outrageous interest rates. They pay cash for everything.

It's not that they're broke.

"On paper, we look pretty good," she said. "In real life, not so much."

Joe Rozier is vice president of Workforce Employment Solutions, a staffing firm in Cape Girardeau. He said his office is visited by a "tremendous amount" of people seeking second jobs.

Rozier said some people take on second jobs because they see their primary job as a means to pay for the necessities, such as food, clothing and shelter. A second job may enable them to take a vacation, have nicer things in their home or drive a nicer car.

"They may not be able to have those things on the money they make from their first job," he said. "They realize if they want some of the niceties, they're going to have to work two jobs."

For others, it's not entirely about the money. According to the Bureau survey, 17.4 percent of people who take on a second job do so because they enjoy the work.

Rozier has met people who don't desire a lot of free time, for example. Others take on second jobs because they like doing things other than the tasks their primary job requires.

"Somebody might work in health care, but they love to quilt," he said. "They may want to work in a fabric store on the weekend. And some people just love to work."

But Rozier realizes that most people probably work extra jobs because of financial concerns.

"They need the extra job to get by," he said.

One person who works in his office is such a person.

Sharon Wengert, a staffing specialist, also works retail at clothing store Christopher & Banks. Wengert is divorced and needs to make up the difference from her ex-husband's contribution.

But she also likes the change of pace.

"I'm a people person," she said from the staffing firm's office. "I like helping people, too. It's a different atmosphere. Here, I'm helping people find work and I find that satisfying. There, it's recreational and fun."

Ray Warner, a firefighter in Cape Girardeau for 22 years, also holds two jobs. At first, he worked because he needed the money. But as the promotions -- and pay raises that came with them -- he worked two jobs more to break the monotony.

"I like doing things," said Warner, who also works for Show Me Construction. "I drive a dump truck and I like learning new trades, learning new things. The more you learn, the better you can be."

But really it's about staying busy, he said.

"I just don't like sitting around."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137