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A Texas millennial is on track to make nearly $350,000 this year by secretly working two remote jobs.
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Despite working two jobs at the same time, he typically only worked about 50 hours a week.
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He is considering giving up his overtime work, as it is taking its toll on his health and relationships.
In 2021, Phil saw the workload at his software engineering job decrease significantly. He began to wonder what he could do with the extra time he had.
The idea soon arose: perhaps he could fulfill two remote roles at the same time.
“Since many jobs at the time were remote, I thought about trying my luck,” Phil, who is in his 30s and based in Texas, told Business Insider via email. His identity is known to BI, but he asked to use a pseudonym for fear of professional repercussions.
After a few months, he got a second full-time job, but he didn’t tell either employer about being “overworked.”
Working two jobs in secret has had a major impact on Phil’s finances. He’s on track to make nearly $350,000 this year, according to filings obtained by Business Insider. About $150,000 of this is said to come from his second employer – a subsidiary of a US-based company that pays him in foreign currency. He said his overtime allowed him to allocate nearly $75,000 to his retirement funds last year.
Having a second gig has also provided Phil with valuable job security. Last year he said he was among thousands of IT and technology workers laid off, but he still had a salary he could rely on until he found a new “job two.” Additionally, he said he has typically worked no more than 50 hours per week in his two jobs.
But despite all these benefits, Phil is considering quitting his second job sometime this year, partly because he said juggling jobs has taken a toll on his physical and mental health, as well as his personal life.
“Overtime certainly helps when it comes to financial security,” he said. “But that comes at a cost.”
Phil is one of several Americans who have secretly worked multiple remote jobs to increase their income and job security. BI interviewed more than 20 of these job jugglers, many of whom work in the IT and tech industries. These people have earned as much as $1 million a year from their jobs and have used their earnings to pay off student loans, save for retirement, and pay for expensive vacations and diet pills.
While some companies are comfortable with their employees taking on second jobs, doing so without permission can have negative consequences. Additionally, fierce competition for remote roles, the mandate to return to the office, and burnout have led some job jugglers to question whether overtime is sustainable.
Phil shared his top tips for managing two full-time jobs, the biggest downsides to the lifestyle, and why he might consider quitting.
Doing the ‘bare minimum’ and limiting meetings are key
After he started juggling jobs in 2021, Phil said he started searching online for information about whether it was legal to secretly work multiple remote jobs — and if anyone else was doing the same. That’s when he first heard about the “overemployed community.” There are more than 300,000 members on the r/overemployed subreddit — where workers share tips for finding jobs and avoiding detection.
“To my surprise, I saw people doing as many as five parallel jobs, making more than $1 million,” he said.
In recent years, Phil has had the same primary job — or “job one” — but has had a few secondary roles. He quit one because he needed a break and was fired from another. He said he tried to juggle three jobs at once for a few months until the workload became too much.
When it comes to finding remote jobs, Phil says he generally uses LinkedIn and the remote-specific job site We Work Remotely.
When it comes to managing multiple jobs, Phil says there is one key point: time management.
Phil’s strategy is to do the “bare minimum” at both jobs, which he believes is necessary from a time management perspective. He said he avoids meetings that he finds “pointless” and sometimes double-books meetings with both employers to save time.
“Having two 40-hour jobs doesn’t mean you have to work 80 hours a week,” he said. “You have to be smart enough to do more in less time.”
If you want to advance your career and stay with a company for a long time, overtime isn’t for you, Phil said.
“If you see work solely as a way to gain financial security and you enjoy seeing others get promoted while you simply meet the expectations of both jobs, then it’s a good idea.”
Why overwork cannot be sustainable
Phil said that overtime comes with some major costs.
First, he found it difficult to focus on a single job, which he believes affected the quality of his work.
“I was more concerned about doing the bare minimum in both places to survive,” he said.
Second, he said the longer work hours — which sometimes reach 60 or 70 hours a week — are exhausting and have left him less time to focus on his relationships.
“It takes a toll on your health,” he said. “Anything up to 50 hours a week is doable for me and that’s what I would recommend to most people.”
For these reasons, Phil is considering quitting being overworked this year.
Before anyone starts juggling jobs, he advises them to think about the impact it could have, not only on their finances, but other areas of their lives.
“Look at your life as a whole and not just from the perspective of work and money,” he said.
Are you working on multiple remote jobs at the same time and are you willing to provide details about your salary and schedule? Are you a manager who has experience with overworked employees? Please contact this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.
Read the original article on Business Insider
