Workers Are Choosing Seasonal Work Over Salaries: Is Flexibility Becoming More Valuable Than Stability?

Up until about a decade ago, the traditional career path for most people has been pretty straightforward. You study if you can. and then you get a job, earn a salary, work your way up and ideally, stick around in the same company for long enough to enjoy some stability. Longevity was essential and loyalty was everything.

But that model doesn’t seem quite as appealing as it once did, this has become evident not only in sentiment, but in people’s actions too. People are increasingly talking about flexibility, experiences and the freedom to move around, rather than simply finding the biggest salary and staying put in a single company.

And seasonal work, whether that’s spending a winter working in a ski resort or a summer picking fruit somewhere on the other side of the world, fits rather neatly into that changing attitude towards work. Now, seasonal work isn’t reserved for young people fresh out of high school. Now, it’s an option that’s available to anyone keen on a less traditional lifestyle and career path.

In fact, global searches for “seasonal work” have risen by 78% year on year, reaching around 47,000 searches a month, according to Google Trends data from Glimpse.

That’s not a little increase we’ve seen over a long period of time; it’s a massive jump that’s happened incredibly quickly. So, why this dramatic change, and why are workers seemingly beginning to value freedom over permanence?

Seasonal Work Is Back In Fashion

I remember my dad telling me about working on the kibbutz in Israel in his early 20s. They worked in the fields alongside local agricultural staff and lived a modest lifestyle. And this was back in the ’80s.

New research from cross-border money transfer provider Remitly has ranked 88 seasonal-work destinations across 21 countries in 2026, looking at three broad categories: ski resorts, hospitality and party towns, and agricultural or fruit-picking destinations.

The locations were scored according to five factors: cost of living, rent affordability compared with the local minimum wage, things to do, job demand and safety. And it’s safe to say that the results are rather interesting.

Niseko in Japan came out on top, scoring 79 out of 100. The famous Hokkaido ski resort performed particularly well on safety and cost of living, while offering plenty of opportunities in hospitality, ski schools and lift operations. In many ways, not particularly surprising; skiing destinations have long been a popular destination for seasonal work, especially for young people.

Italy’s Cortina d’Ampezzo came second with 73.1, followed by Central Otago in New Zealand, which scored 68.

And New Zealand i particular seems to be something of a seasonal-work hotspot. Eight of the country’s destinations made the global top 20, more than any other country in the study. Central Otago was the highest-ranked agricultural destination, while Dunedin took fifth place overall and ranked as the best destination for seasonal hospitality work.

The Appeal Isn’t Just The Paycheque

It’s worth pointing out that there’s something quite revealing about the factors Remitly chose to measure. Cost of living and rent obviously matter and so does job demand, but the study also looks at things to do and safety.

That’s because seasonal workers aren’t necessarily looking for somewhere to spend the next 20 years; they’re looking for somewhere they can work and live for a while. And the things you look for in a holiday destination are quite different to the things you look for in a location for permanent (or even semi-permanent) relocation.

Someone heading to Niseko for a winter season isn’t necessarily trying to build a permanent career in Japan. They might be there to earn money, ski, meet people, travel and then move on to somewhere else. Some people who do this are pretty much always on the move.

Likewise, someone heading to Central Otago for fruit-picking work might be motivated by the opportunity to spend a few months in New Zealand as much as the job itself. And so, in other words, the workplace becomes part of the experience, and perhaps that’s why seasonal work is becoming increasingly attractive these days.

Stability Doesn’t Mean What It Used To

There was a time when having a permanent job was almost synonymous with security, but that relationship has become rather more complicated. Part of that has to do with cultural and social changes over time, and some of that has to do with Covid and the influence that remote work had on professionals.

Indeed, permanent employment doesn’t necessarily guarantee job security anymore. Companies restructure, industries change and entire roles can disappear. But at the same time, remote work and digital platforms have made it considerably easier for some people to work from different places and build less conventional careers.

That doesn’t mean everyone suddenly wants to abandon the nine-to-five and go cherry picking in New Zealand (although I’m sure many people would jump at the opportunity). After all, seasonal work can be physically demanding, accommodation can be expensive or difficult to find and there’s no guarantee of long-term employment. For people with mortgages, families or other financial commitments, the freedom to simply pack a bag and move country every few months isn’t exactly realistic. It’s simply not possible for most.

But for workers who can do it, this kind of lifestyle is becoming more and more appealing.  Perhaps stability isn’t necessarily about staying in one place anymore. For some people, it’s about having enough flexibility and financial independence to decide where they want to go next and when they want to leave.

New Zealand Is Making A Strong Case

New Zealand’s dominance in the rankings is quite surprising, to be frank. Not because it isn’t a cool, popular or beautiful destination, but because not only is it a very small country, it’s also expensive. And not to mention the fact that there are plenty of other destinations around the world that we would probably have expected to rank above New Zealand in this stufy.

As well as having eight destinations in the global top 20, the country has established seasonal industries across agriculture, viticulture, tourism and hospitality. According to Immigration New Zealand, its Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme can bring in thousands of overseas workers to support the horticulture and viticulture sectors.

There’s also a significant working-holiday population, with 32,490 working-holiday visa holders in New Zealand as of early 2025, according to figures cited in the Remitly research. So there’s clearly an ecosystem already designed and in place for people who want to combine employment with travel.

And that’s perhaps the biggest attraction of seasonal work.  The job isn’t necessarily the whole point anymore in the way that it used to be; in many ways, it’s just a means of funding an experience. And the experience is life.

Is Flexibility Becoming The New Currency?

It would be a stretch to say seasonal work is replacing traditional employment, because it’s certainly not. For most people, a predictable salary, benefits and long-term security remain extremely valuable. And seasonal work certainly isn’t without its downsides.

However, the growing interest in it tells us something about what some workers increasingly want from employment. A job can be a career, a source of income and a route to stability, but it can also be a passport.

The fact that searches for seasonal work have jumped 78% suggests more people are at least curious about that last option. It’s becoming less about how much money you’ll make and more about how the job can contribute to the life you’re trying to build. For some people, that’s a promotion and a pension, but for others, that could be a season in Niseko, a summer in Central Otago and absolutely no idea where they’ll be working six months from now.