A man in his thirties is sitting at a desk with two laptops open in a quiet California apartment. The screens are angled slightly so that neither camera can capture the other. A hiring dashboard for a mid-sized tech company is displayed on one screen. The other displays a calendar full of interview times for an entirely different employer who is unaware that the first one even exists. Although that isn’t actually his name, he refers to himself as Michael. He earned over $280,000 doing this by the end of 2022. On a single recruiter’s salary, he paid off student loans, reduced credit card debt, and accumulated savings that he claims he never would have imagined.
He’s not by himself. A loose subculture of workers, known as the overemployed, exchange advice on how to manage two or even three full-time remote jobs concurrently on Slack channels, Reddit threads, and private Discord servers. The most important rule—repeated almost like a mantra—is to avoid discussing it. Not at parties for dinner. Not on LinkedIn. Not in front of HR, for sure.
| Profile Snapshot — The Overemployed Movement | Details |
|---|---|
| Term | “Overemployment” — holding two or more full-time remote jobs simultaneously without each employer’s knowledge |
| Origin of online community | Reddit forum r/overemployed, gaining traction around 2021 |
| Founder of leading resource site | A pseudonymous Bay Area engineer known online as “Isaac,” late 30s |
| Typical age range | 35–40, though spans from interns in their 20s to workers past 60 |
| Most common industries | Tech, recruiting, finance, marketing, customer success |
| Reported earnings | Frequently $250,000–$600,000+ annually across combined roles |
| Primary motivators | Debt repayment, financial cushion, early retirement, skill optimization |
| Common risks | Breach of contract, non-compete violations, termination, reputational damage |
| Detection methods | Corporate spyware, overlapping meetings, sloppy calendar management |
| Cultural shift driver | Pandemic-era remote work and the rise of hybrid arrangements |
| Golden rule among practitioners | “Don’t talk about holding down multiple remote jobs” |
Many commentators have been tempted to dismiss these individuals as cheaters. According to news sources, the practice is “business bigamy,” dishonest, and even morally repugnant. However, if you spend enough time listening to those who are doing it, a more complex picture begins to emerge. Yes, there is anger there. Additionally, there is a type of dry, post-pandemic exhaustion brought on by witnessing layoffs occur every twelve to eighteen months while executives discuss “resilience” during quarterly calls.
Isaac, the man responsible for the biggest English-language overemployment resource, has been doing this for years. He claims to clear over $600,000 a year. He says he was surprised by the traffic when he launched a website in April 2021 that explained how to navigate the lifestyle. His followers are across generations and continents. Some are quietly saving for retirement in their early sixties. Some interns are juggling two remote internships at the same time, which seems bold and a little tragic at the same time.
The easy narrative that this is all about greed is refuted by Catherine Chandler-Crichlow, a human capital specialist at Ivey Business School in Ontario. She suggests that after spending more than two years at kitchen tables, people began to ask different questions about their skills, such as where they could truly be used, what felt wasted, and what felt alive. A financial analyst who works as a coder in secret is not just pursuing financial gain. Speaking with these employees gives me the impression that they are also searching for a sense of agency that has been lost.
The original contract’s fine print largely determines the legality, which is ambiguous. IP assignments, exclusivity clauses, and non-competes can subtly transform a clever agreement into a lawsuit. It is true that people are caught. Isaac talks about a programmer who was once caught using an unauthorized script by corporate spyware. That one came to an expected conclusion.
Observing this unfold, it’s not really the money that’s striking. It’s the subtle philosophical shift that lies beneath it. Employees who believe they have been treated like line items on a spreadsheet have started treating their employers similarly in a covert manner. Depending on your point of view, that could be either a fair reckoning or a slow-burning ethical mess. Most likely both. Return-to-office requirements are tightening the runway, the economy is still changing, and overemployed people are aware that their window may not remain open indefinitely. The two laptops continue to hum for the time being, though.