EXCLUSIVE: If you’ve caught yourself thinking the staff at your local Coles or Woolworths look particularly young these days, it’s not just your imagination.

Australians are joining the workforce younger than ever, largely in response to the ongoing cost of living crisis.

New research from Employment Hero revealed that jobs among Aussies aged 14 to 17 surged by 30 per cent in the past year.

Jobs among 18 to 24-year-olds also jumped by more than 16 per cent, signalling a prominent generational shift as young Aussies try to get ahead financially.

Casper Huisken, 17, is juggling a job at his local supermarket with his Year 12 studied in the hopes of building a financial safety net before he even finishes high school.

“I wanted to earn money earlier because it gets expensive [when you’re] outside of school,” he told 9news.com.au.

“It just feels good to have some money to rely on.”

Working a few shifts a week also forces him to manage his time carefully around homework and assignments, which he said has helped him focus.

But he worries that it will be hard to keep up with the rising cost of living – even with a head start.

Employment Hero’s inaugural Annual Jobs Report found that Gen Z Aussies are entering the workforce in record numbers as the cost of living crisis continues.

More than half of those aged 18 to 24 also work more than one job.

By comparison, only 20 per cent of workers over the age of 55 hold multiple jobs and only one in three across the total working population.

“Teenagers are clocking shifts to save for a future they know is going to be expensive,” Employment Hero chief executive Ben Thompson said.

Meanwhile, Millennials are most likely to use tools like Earned Wage Access (EWA) to withdraw cash before payday to foot everyday bills.

And the majority of Aussies are prioritising job stability over all else, especially young workers.

Cyber safety specialist Annabelle Harrison, 24, is among them.

“In the industry that I work in, which is tech, there’s a lot of layoffs and they can happen quite suddenly,” she told 9news.com.au.

“Everything’s changing a lot so over the past few years, I’ve definitely valued job security.”

Harrison got her first job at 14 and worked multiple jobs all through high school and uni, hoping to set herself up for the future.

But she couldn’t have planned for the COVID-19 pandemic or cost of living crisis.

Now she’s considering picking up a second job on top of her full-time role to help cover essentials like rent and groceries while she tries to keep saving for life’s big moments.

Because if she doesn’t put money away for a wedding, a house, and kids now, she might never afford them.

”I’d like to have a house and be comfortable, and also have the financial freedom if I want to travel to travel,” she said.

“But it’s hard … you can’t really do everything, you definitely have to prioritize what you what you want most.”

Harrison is grateful her family encouraged her to develop financial skills from a young age.

About 8.5 million Aussie adults are considered financially illiterate according to 2020 stats, and only 28 per cent of teen boys and 15 per cent of teen girls demonstrate basic financial skills.

Thankfully, a growing number of young people are starting work and saving young in the hopes of getting ahead of the curve.

Huisken plans to keep working through his final year of school and build up a little nest egg to see him through to his next chapter.

Many of his friends are starting work and saving up too.

“It seems like a great thing to get into early,” he said.

“Because [the cost of licing] already is quite expensive, and if it keeps getting more expensive, then that would be very bad for us.”