A UK Government minister has said workers struggling with rising bills should consider taking on more hours or moving to a better paid job.

Rachel Maclean, safeguarding minister in the Home Office, said families could “protect” themselves from soaring energy and food bills and tax rises by working more.

“I think what we need to focus on now is over the long-term,” she told Sky News’ Kay Burley on Monday.

While I don’t agree that this is solution for all, and it definitely doesn’t provide a short term for those in crisis right now; as a career coach, I’d like to offer some thoughts if you’d like to consider future proofing your career to combat the cost-of-living crisis.

After all necessity is the mother of invention, and as a result we need to think differently about our careers. I provided some suggestions to Rachel Laey at Sky News in this article and have summarised them below.

5 approaches you can take when future proofing your career to combat the cost-of-living crisis:

1. Ask for Pay Rise

Some organisations are thriving at the right time, and there is a war on talent, combined with the great resignation, so you could be well placed to ask for an increased income.

2. Find a way to increase hours

If you can and want to work more hours, you could ask your employer to compress your hours and work 4 days in 5 and on the fifth day get another role. Do consider burnout and work life balance, this might not be an option for you.

3. Network

Network within your organisation to see what other roles you could transition into. People in your company know your skills, your track record and your capacity to learn and develop, so transitioning into another role internally could be easier than trying to do so externally.

4. Gain additional sources of income

Is there something you enjoy doing or that you’ve been told you have talent for, like creating logos, proof reading or managing your Instagram page? You could get paid to do this by signing up on sites like Fiver.

You could also use your talents to create a business that supplements your main role, maybe you knit, or sell clothes or make cabinets for yourself, how about being paid to do it and creating an Etsy shop?

5. Retrain

Look for courses that guarantee you a role at the end of training, such as cyber security and IT courses. Bear in mind that you will usually have to pay these.

Do your research and consider professions that will still be in demand in 10 years’ time are experiencing growth such as:

• technology
• education
• finance
• retail
• health care

Check government website for loans available to adults who want to study further – such as the Advanced  Learner Loan or Adult Education Budget.

Adult apprenticeships are becoming increasingly popular and are a way to learn a new profession, try before your buy, get to know an organisation, although they are not highly paid.

Online Learning and Self-Directed learning are also a great way to learn, but you will also need to gain some experience.

Further education colleges train people to teach the topics they know about, and you get paid while you are training.

Wishing you every success future proofing your career to combat the cost-of-living crisis.