Business

‘Polyworking’ won’t slow down in 2026 as pay falls behind, says career expert

Published

24 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Good morning. Many CFOs now rank talent—whether hiring, retention, or skill gaps—as their companies’ top internal risk. And “polyworking,” where employees hold multiple jobs or roles at once to make ends meet, shows no signs of slowing.

Polyworking is likely to continue into 2026, according to Vicki Salemi, a career expert at Monster, the job search and recruiting platform. She points to a recent polywork survey showing that nearly one in two workers hold multiple jobs simultaneously, and 51% say the extra income is “absolutely essential” to cover basic monthly expenses. The findings are based on a survey of more than 700 U.S. workers across industries and experience levels.

“This is underscored by the data point that 38% of respondents said they plan to keep working multiple jobs for the long term, which ultimately points to their salary at their full-time job,” Salemi noted. “As long as workers are underpaid, the data points to polyworking continuing.”

Monster’s Cost of Living Report earlier this year found that 95% of respondents say their wages have not kept up with rising costs. “The pay deficiency triggers financial stress and the pursuit of side hustles,” Salemi said.

Anecdotally, polyworking is concentrated among entry-level workers, she said. Many lack a frame of reference for a traditional 9-to-5 workday. “Their frame of reference is not pre-pandemic of a ‘traditional’ workplace—it’s more fluid, hybrid/remote, and flexible,” she said. “Plus, since they’re digital natives, they may be more interested in pursuing influencer roles and content creation in addition to a full-time job and side hustle.”

Senior-level professionals are less likely to polywork, in part because it is logistically harder to juggle multiple roles when they travel frequently or shoulder more responsibilities at home, she added.

Higher pay is a critical part of the solution. “To address polyworking head-on and realize workers may be more lethargic, less engaged, and less productive as a result, first and foremost, employers should pay them according to market values,” Salemi said. If that’s not possible, then they should implement other compensation strategies such as quarterly bonuses or incremental raises to make them whole and bring them up to the cost of living, she added. Workers are also looking for financial independence and flexibility, so she suggests companies consider those aspects alongside base pay.

Complicating matters, U.S. salary increase budgets are expected to hold steady at an average of 3.5% in 2026, matching actual increases in 2025, according to WTW’s July Salary Budget Planning Report based on 1,569 U.S. organizations. About 31% of employers plan to reduce their salary budgets because of weaker financial performance and cost pressures, while the few that are increasing budgets cite competitive labor markets and inflation. WTW is expected to release an updated report this month with finalized 2025 actuals and a refined 2026 outlook.

Given these constraints, employers need to assume their workforce is polyworking and set clear expectations. Salemi suggested codifying guidelines in HR policies and new-hire orientation, then reinforcing them periodically. Employers also need to get ahead of burnout. “By working multiple jobs, workers may unfortunately reach burnout,” she said. “They may need mental health support and stress-management programs.”

Disengagement is another risk. “When workers pursue external employment, they’re not only earning more money, they’re gaining new skills, making new connections, and perhaps laying the foundation for a new career path,” Salemi said. The question for employers is whether they will adapt fast enough to keep those workers—and their growing skills—inside the organization.

SherylEstrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

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Mike Lenihan was appointed CFO of Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NasdaqGS: TXRH), a restaurant company, effective Dec. 3. Keith Humpich, who served as interim CFO, was appointed chief accounting and financial services officer of the company. Lenihan has nearly 30 years of finance experience, including the past 22 years in the restaurant industry. Most recently, he served as the CFO at CKE Restaurants, Inc.

Brett Stubbs was appointed CFO of Kind Lending, a wholesale lender. Stubbs brings more than 25 years of financial and operational experience. His appointment follows a planned transition with Gary Fabian, who has served as the company’s CFO since its founding and will retire at the end of the year. Fabian will continue supporting the handoff through Dec. 31.

Big Deal

The fourth-quarter AICPA and CIMA Economic Outlook Survey released this morning measures the sentiment of 241 U.S. CEOs, CFOs, controllers, and other senior finance leaders.

Only 28% of executives are optimistic about the economy over the next year, down from 34% last quarter. Domestic economic conditions and inflation remain top concerns, swapping the top two spots from last quarter. Political leadership rose to third place, its highest ranking since mid‑2021.

More than half (52%) expect a recession by the end of 2026, including 17% who believe one is already underway. Despite weaker economic confidence, executives are more upbeat about their own companies (41% vs. 37%) and more plan to expand (48% vs. 46%).

Hiring expectations are largely unchanged. Most say staffing levels are appropriate, though the share saying they have too few employees fell to 32%, and those saying they have too many declined to 13%.

“Despite a slight dip in economic optimism, we’re seeing a mixed picture beneath the topline figure,” Tom Hood, EVP of Business Engagement and Growth at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the alliance formed by AICPA and CIMA, said in a statement. “The good news is executives feel more confident in their own companies, reflected in modest gains in profit and revenue projections.”

Revenue growth expectations rose to 2% from 1.5% last quarter, while profit projections climbed to 0.8% from 0.1%, according to the findings.

Courtesy of AICPA and CIMA Economic Outlook Survey

Going deeper

“Inside Silicon Valley’s ‘soup wars’: Why Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI are hand-delivering soup to poach talent” is a Fortune report by Eva Roytburg.

Roytburg writes: “In the high-stakes arms race between Meta and OpenAI for AI dominance, the weapon of choice has evolved. First, it was unlimited compute, then $100 million signing bonuses. Now, the battle has entered a new, bizarrely intimate phase: soup wars.” You can read the complete report here.

Overheard

“If you are massively dyslexic, you cannot play a playbook. There is no playbook a dyslexic can master. And therefore we learn to think freely.”

—Palantir CEO Alex Karp said during the New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday. Karp revealed that his lifelong struggle with dyslexia—not elite degrees, politics, or pedigree—shaped the free-thinking, contrarian mindset that has driven both his leadership and Palantir’s rise as one of America’s most valuable tech companies, Fortune reported.

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Business

Netflix lines up $59 billion of debt for Warner Bros. deal

Published

9 minutes ago

December 5, 2025

Jace Porter

Netflix Inc. has lined up $59 billion of financing from Wall Street banks to help support its planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., which would make it one of the largest ever loans of its kind.

Wells Fargo & Co., BNP Paribas SA and HSBC Plc are providing the unsecured bridge loan, according to a statement Friday, a type of financing that is typically replaced with more permanent debt such as corporate bonds.

Under the deal announced Friday, Warner Bros. shareholders will receive $27.75 a share in cash and stock in Netflix. The total equity value of the deal is $72 billion, while the enterprise value of the deal is about $82.7 billion.

Bridge loans are a crucial step for banks in building relationships with companies to win higher-paying mandates down the road.

A loan of $59 billion would rank among the biggest of its type, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA obtained $75 billion of loans to back its acquisition of SABMiller Plc in 2015, the largest ever bridge financing, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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Business

Stocks: Facing a vast wave of incoming liquidity, the S&P 500 prepares to surf to a new record high

Published

41 minutes ago

December 5, 2025

Jace Porter

The S&P 500 index ticked up 0.3% yesterday, its eighth straight upward trading session. It is now less than half a percentage point away from its record high, and futures were pointing marginally up again this morning. Nasdaq 100 futures were even more optimistic, up 0.39% before the open in New York. The VIX “fear” index (which measures volatility) has sunk 12.6% this month, indicating that investors seem to have settled in for a calm, quiet, risk-on holiday season.

They have reason to be happy. Washington is preparing a wave of incoming liquidity that is likely to generate fresh demand for equities.

For instance, the CME FedWatch index shows an 87% chance that the U.S. Federal Reserve will deliver an interest rate cut next week, delivering a new round of cheaper money. Further cuts are expected in 2026.

Furthermore, Wall Street largely expects President Trump to announce that Kevin Hassett will replace Fed chairman Jerome Powell in May—and Hassett is widely regarded as a dove who will lean in favor of further rate cuts.

Elsewhere, the Fed has begun a series of “reserve management purchases,” a program in which the central bank will buy short-term T-bills—a move that will add more liquidity to markets generally.

Banks, brokers and trading platforms are also lining up to handle ‘Trump Accounts,’ into which the U.S. government will deposit $1,000 for every child. The trust fund can be invested in low-cost stock index trackers—a new source of investment demand coming online in the back half of 2026.

So it’s no surprise that nine major investment banks polled by the Financial Times expect stocks to rise in 2026; the average of their estimates is by 10%.

The Congressional Budget Office also estimates that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will add 0.9% to U.S. GDP next year largely because it allows companies to immediately deduct capital expenditures from their taxes—spurring a huge round of corporate spending.

With all that fresh money on the horizon, it’s clear why markets have shrugged off their worries about AI and Bitcoin. The only shock will be if the S&P fails to hit a new all-time high by the end of the year.

Here’s a snapshot of the markets ahead of the opening bell in New York this morning:

S&P 500 futures were up 0.2% this morning. The last session closed up 0.3%.
STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.3% in early trading.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.14% in early trading.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 2.33%.
China’s CSI 300 was up 0.34%.
The South Korea KOSPI was down 0.19%.
India’s NIFTY 50 is up 0.18%.
Bitcoin was flat at $93K.

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Business

Gen Z fears AI will upend careers. Can leaders change the narrative?

Published

1 hour ago

December 5, 2025

Jace Porter

Good morning. Are you communicating the purpose of AI with your younger employees? According to new data from Harvard, most fear AI is going to take their jobs.

The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School released the fall 2025 Harvard Youth Poll on Thursday, which finds a generation under profound strain. The nationwide survey of 2,040 Americans between 18 and 29 years old was conducted from Nov. 3–7. For these respondents, instability—financial, political, and interpersonal—has become a defining feature of daily life.

Young Americans see AI as more likely to take something away than to create something new. A majority (59%) see AI as a threat to their job prospects, more than immigration (31%) or outsourcing of jobs to other countries (48%).

Nearly 45% say AI will reduce opportunities, while only 14% expect gains. Another 17% foresee no change and 23% are unsure—and this holds across education levels and gender.

In addition, young people fear AI will undermine the meaning of work. About 41% say AI will make work less meaningful, compared to 14% who say it will make work more meaningful and 19% who think it will make no difference; a quarter (25%) say they are unsure.

In my conversations this year with CFOs and industry experts, many have said that the goal of using AI is to remove the mundane and manual aspects of work in order to create more meaningful, thought‑provoking opportunities. However, that message does not yet seem to be resonating with younger employees.

There is a lot of public discussion and widespread fear that AI will mostly take away jobs, but research by McKinsey Global Institute released last week offers a different perspective. According to the report, AI could, in theory, automate about 57% of U.S. work hours, but that figure measures the technical potential in tasks, not the inevitable loss of jobs, as Fortune reported.

Instead of mass replacement, McKinsey researchers argue the future of work will be defined by partnerships among people, agents, and robots—all powered by AI, but dependent on human guidance and organizational redesign. The primary reason AI will not result in half the workforce being immediately sidelined is the enduring relevance of human skills.

The Harvard poll also found young people have greater trust in AI for school and work tasks (52% overall, 63% among college students) and for learning or tutoring (48% overall, 63% among college students). But trust drops sharply for personal matters.

Young employees are considered AI natives. However, it is important to recognize that they have not experienced as many major technology shifts as more seasoned employees—like the dawn of the internet. It’s not to say that AI won’t change the workforce, but there’s still room and need for humans. It’s up to leaders to clearly communicate how AI will change roles, which tasks it will automate, and also provide ongoing training and guidance on how employees can still grow their careers in an AI-powered workplace.

Have a good weekend. See you on Monday.

SherylEstrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

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Fortune 500 Power Moves

Amanda Brimmer was appointed CFO of leasing advisory and head of corporatedevelopment at JLL (No. 188), a global commercial real estate and investment management company. Reporting to JLL CFO Kelly Howe, Brimmer will partner with business leaders globally to drive financial growth and performance. Brimmer brings more than two decades of experience from Boston Consulting Group, where she most recently served as managing director and senior partner.

Galagher Jeff was appointed EVP and CFO of ARKO Corp. (No. 488), one of the largest convenience store operators and fuel wholesalers in the U.S., effective Dec. 1. Jeff most recently served as EVP and CFO for Murphy USA, Inc. Before that, he spent nearly 15 years in senior and executive finance roles with retailers, including Dollar Tree Stores, Inc., Advance Auto Parts, Inc. and Walmart Stores, Inc., in addition to a decade-long career in finance and strategy consulting at organizations including KPMG and Ernst & Young.

Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.

More notable moves this week:

Barbara Larson, CFO of SentinelOne, a cybersecurity company, will transition from her role to pursue an opportunity outside of the cybersecurity industry. Larson will continue to serve in her role through mid-January 2026. Upon her departure, Barry Padgett, chief growth officer, will serve as interim CFO. Barry has more than 25 years of experience in operational leadership at enterprise software companies, including SAP and Stripe. SentinelOne has initiated a search for its next CFO.

Jessica Ross was appointed CFO of GitLab Inc. (Nasdaq: GTLB), a DevSecOps platform, effective Jan. 15. Ross joins the company from Frontdoor, where she served as CFO. She has more than 25 years of experience in finance, accounting, and operational leadership at companies like Salesforce and Stitch Fix, and spent 12 years in public accounting at Arthur Andersen and Deloitte.

Michele Allen was appointed CFO of Jersey Mike’s Subs, a franchisor of fast-casual sandwich shops, effective Dec. 1. Allen succeeds Walter Tombs, who is retiring from Jersey Mike’s in January after 26 years with the company. Allen brings more than 25 years of financial leadership experience. Most recently, she served as CFO and head of strategy at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. Allen began her career with Deloitte as an auditor.

Nick Tressler was appointed CFO of Vistagen (Nasdaq: VTGN), a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, effective Dec. 1. Tressler brings over 20 years of financial leadership experience. Most recently, he served as CFO of DYNEX Technologies, and before that, he was the CFO at American Gene Technologies, International, and Senseonics Holdings, Inc. Tressler has also held senior finance roles at several biopharmaceutical companies.

Big Deal

The ADP National Employment Report, released on Dec. 3, indicated that private-sector employment declined by 32,000 jobs in November. ADP found that job creation has been flat during the second half of 2025, while pay growth has continued its downward trend. In November, hiring was particularly weak in manufacturing, professional and business services, information, and construction.

“Hiring has been choppy of late as employers weather cautious consumers and an uncertain macroeconomic environment,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP, in a statement. “And while November’s slowdown was broad-based, it was led by a pullback among small businesses.”

ADP’s report is an independent measure of labor market conditions based on anonymized weekly payroll data from more than 26 million private-sector employees in the U.S. The next major U.S. Jobs Report (Employment Situation) for November is scheduled for release on Dec. 16 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Going deeper

Here are four Fortune weekend reads:

Overheard

“The Fed no more ‘determines’ interest rates than a meteorologist determines the weather.”

—Alexander William Salter states in a Fortune opinion piece. Salter is a senior fellow with the Independent Institute and an economics professor in the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University. He writes: “The Fed doesn’t set interest rates. As powerful as America’s central bank is, it’s still just one player in a globe-spanning ocean of financial markets. Instead, the Fed sets targets for short-term interest rates. Those target rates indicate the Fed’s general monetary policy stance, but they are not the substance of monetary policy.”

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