Unlock Your Earning Potential: How Skill Stacking Can Boost Your Income and Transform Your Career

Skill stacking is the latest employment buzzphrase that could help you earn extra money or even open up a whole new career. Put simply, it means using the skills you already have while developing new ones to build additional income and greater financial resilience.

With half of people more worried about their financial future than they were a year ago, skill stacking is rapidly replacing the idea of having a single career for life. The concept has gained popularity since the pandemic, and the advent of AI has seen a surge in people turning to second or even third jobs over the last 12 months.

A new study from Airtasker suggests 49% of workers fear AI could affect their job within the next five years and 56% expect they will have to change roles or careers. As a result, 46% of people already earn money outside their main job, with almost two thirds of the remaining workers considering it.

Meanwhile, Fiverr’s annual Next Gen Of Work survey found 57% of young people believe traditional employment will become obsolete, as just a single salary won’t be enough to live on.

Airtasker founder Tim Fung explains: “AI isn’t just changing jobs, it’s changing the way people think about work. People aren’t necessarily ghosting their employer, they’re ghosting the old idea that one job or one career will provide long-term security. While AI will transform many industries, it also highlights the value of the things humans do best. The future belongs to adaptable people, and skill stacking is helping workers build the resilience and flexibility they’ll need for the years ahead.”

Real-Life Success Stories

Handyman Kieran Nagle quit his corporate role in 2007 and now earns more than £3,000 a month building flat-pack furniture. His venture Webuildyourflatpacks is so successful that he was even featured on ITV’s This Morning. Kieran, 44, from West Drayton, London, said: “I started out doing furniture assembly because it was something I genuinely enjoyed. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that skills people often take for granted can be incredibly valuable to others. There’s a real satisfaction in helping people and getting paid.”

The average skill stacker already earns £1,777 per year, with the most popular extra jobs including freelance office or administrative work, pet-sitting or dog-walking. But electrical work and plumbing top the list of skills offering the strongest earning potential, with demand for freelance plumbers growing by 46% year-on-year, while electrical work has increased by 34%.

But there’s no need to simply stick to conventional jobs, as there are opportunities to learn new and unusual skills from home gym assembly to handbag repair to eBay selling support.

AJ Hubbins has already earned £600 standing in line to save a place for customers at pop-up stores and shop openings. The 23-year-old, from Salford, said: “Most people laugh when they hear what I do, but queueing is a real service. People are busy and sometimes they simply can’t spend hours waiting in line. It’s shown me that there are opportunities to earn money from skills and services that people don’t normally think about.”

Top Five Traits to Climb the Ladder

What are the key traits you need to get promoted at work? Speaking first in meetings and confidence in front of bosses? Not so, says careers expert Jackson Parsons, founder of careers show My Duvet Flip. After interviewing hundreds of top bosses, he believes there are key characteristics that lead to career success. He said: “They’re not the qualities people post about most often on LinkedIn. But they’re often the qualities that quietly decide who gets promoted next.”

Here Jackson lists the top five characteristics:

• Stay calm when everyone else is panicking: Every workplace has moments of pressure, but while some people react emotionally, the employees who stand out are the ones who can stay calm and solution-focused when things become stressful.
• Disagree without creating drama: Many people avoid disagreement at work because they don’t want to be seen as difficult. Others treat every discussion like a debate they need to win. Stay in the middle. Be comfortable challenging ideas and offering other perspectives, but do it in a way that helps relationships rather than harming them.
• Adapt faster than everyone around you: Adaptable employees tend to see change as something positive, to navigate rather than something to fear, making them especially valuable during times of uncertainty.
• Understand how you are perceived: People with high self-awareness are more likely to see their strengths, identify blind spots and change their communication style depending on the situation. They don’t just understand what they’re saying but how it’s landing too.
• Influence people without needing recognition: The most influential people in organisations have built trust over time. Career progression isn’t usually about becoming louder. It’s about becoming more valuable.

We Work For You

Our newly launched Sun Jobs site has more than 300,000 live vacancies. These range from roles at top international companies and big-name brands through to successful local firms seeking staff just like you. You can search the site by sector, salary, city or a set a distance range for the best opportunities local to you. Thinking of trying your luck abroad? You can also find the latest live vacancies from the most popular countries for UK staff to emigrate too. Terry Heath from Sun Jobs said: “Wading through job sites can be tricky, so we’ve made the new Sun Jobs site clear and easy to use, just like your favourite newspaper and website. Simply follow the prompts.” Try it now at jobs.thesun.co.uk.

Job Spot

Wholesaler Booker is recruiting for 145 vacancies, from 3.5t driver to warehouse operative. You can find out more at bookergroupjobs.co.uk/job-search. Motorway services chain Moto has 80 jobs across the UK, from Greggs team members and M&S retail assistants to KFC cooks and supervisors. Search at moto.teamtailor.com/jobs.

Creative Support

Young working-class people keen for a career in the creative sector are being given support through the new Discover Creative Careers programme. Aimed at 11 to 24-year-olds, it focuses on those from under-represented backgrounds and underserved regions. The website will link young people with employers and provide a clear route into the sector, through work experience, webinars and networking events. The programme will also help teachers, parents and careers advisers advise youngsters. Creative Industries Minister, Ian Murray, said: “The UK’s creative industries are the envy of the world, but that strength only holds if we engage the breadth of talent this country offers.” See discovercreative.careers.