After about three years in environmental consulting, April Oliver of Bozeman, Montana, has spent about a year as a chemist.

“The pay is about the same, if not better, especially with benefits added in,” she said. “I feel pretty confident and secure in the long-term stability of my position. I just feel so much more relaxed.”

Oliver has also taken on a second job instructing organic and biochemistry labs at a nearby university. Part of her motivation for taking on the extra job is the upcoming end of the student loan payment pause.

“I wanted to have something that I could easily add on to my current workload with my full-time job in order to help my fiance pay for those [loan payments,]” she said. “We are also getting married, and weddings are not very cheap” — another reason for taking on the additional work.

Oliver is also concerned about prices continuing to rise and the prospect of a potential recession.

“I fall into one of those millennial hustle mindsets where any waking moment that I don’t spend trying to make money is a wasted moment,” she said. “I’m trying to unlearn that and enjoy my free time a little bit more, and I’m hoping to do that in this coming summer.”