Slash Workers in the Alps: Exploratory Research on Rural Multi-Job Holding

This report explores the phenomenon of multi-activity and multiple job holding (MJH) in mountain and rural areas of the EUSALP region, focusing on its role in supporting individual livelihoods, local economies, and territorial resilience. Drawing on qualitative interviews with young residents in Trentino and Val d’Isère, the study examines the motivations, configurations, and consequences of multi-activity, as well as its interaction with digitalisation, social networks, and seasonal labour patterns.
 

Key findings include:

• Diverse motivations: Multi-activity ranges from economic necessity and risk management to personal fulfilment, skill development, and identity expression. These individuals combine traditional land-based practices with tourism, cultural, creative, or digital activities.
• Territorial embeddedness: Multi-activity allows young people to remain in rural areas despite limited full-time employment, strengthening community cohesion, cultural vitality, and environmental stewardship.
• Digital opportunities and constraints: Digital tools facilitate the management of multiple jobs, expand markets, and enable remote work, but adoption is uneven and can introduce new forms of stress and social isolation.
• Challenges and risks: MJH can generate work overload, precarious income, and relational strain. Without adequate support, multi-activity risks undermining both individual well-being and long-term rural sustainability.

Policy implications suggest the need to:

• Map and monitor the distribution, drivers, and quality of multi-activity using quantitative and qualitative tools.
• Strengthen social protections, fair wages, and working conditions for those engaging in MJH by necessity.
• Invest in education, skills, and digital infrastructure to enable multi-activity as a choice-driven strategy for empowerment and territorial resilience.

Future research should explore differences between newcomers and lifelong residents, the evolution of hybrid and non-agricultural work, and the long-term effects of multi-activity on rural vitality. By recognising both its potential and its risks, multi-activity can be leveraged as a central component of sustainable mountain development.