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> I am certain that the model of employees working for multiple companies at the same time is here to stay and will grow over time. Aren't there IP, trade secr

> I am certain that the model of employees working for multiple companies at the same time is here to stay and will grow over time. Aren't there IP, trade secret, and more generally, conflict of interest concerns with an employee working for multiple companies?

mooreds 5y ago
This is worth a read on that topic: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/developers-side-projects/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/developers-side-pr... (5 years old but a lot still applies)
marcus_holmes 5y ago
As a freelancer I've worked at multiple places simultaneously and never run into any problems like this.
- mooreds 5y ago
  Freelancers have a different set of expectations and norms, in my experience.
  - candiodari 5y ago
    Yes as a freelancer I once got handed admin passwords to financial accounts containing hundreds of millions on your second day because the company has a problem that needs solving (and would have been first day had that been a full day instead of half), whereas as an employee you need to go through the company-designed teaching and vetting process lasting 6 months or more before they'll let you in the building where passwords to financial accounts are stored. Handed to me on a little scrap of paper that I "needed to make sure was properly destroyed at the end of the week". It was a firm that did financial transactions, so not only did those keys give access to the money itself, they also allowed one to approve normally refused transactions or vice versa (e.g. make a transaction with a wrong pin entered go through anyway). Obviously we were watched, but still.
    - mooreds 5y ago
      Sure. I bet the contract you signed put a lot of the responsibility on you (and you might have had to carry your own insurance, indemnify the company etc). So you were expected to have done the teaching and vetting process. Whereas the employees were part of the company and had a different set of expectations. If this wasn't the case, please share the company name so I can move all my money far far away from them :).
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
- supahfly_remix 5y ago
  He's not talking about freelancing, though: > I am not talking about freelancing, consulting, and the other forms of working for many clients. I am talking about holding down multiple full-time jobs at the same time.
  - sillysaurusx 5y ago
    Hmm. I'm not sure why that line in the article exists. It sounds like they think that the arrangement would be different as a consultant. Functionally, it's not. (Except for lack of sick days...)
- sriram_sun 5y ago
  Depends on the contract. I consult for a surgical robotics company and the contract bars me from working for competitors for 1 year. Apparently the clause is more applicable to consultants than full-time employees. I have to look deeper into that (haven't had to yet).
janesvilleseo 5y ago
It’s like you become a business with multiple clients (employers).
notsureaboutpg 5y ago
Yeah, the article discusses this: >Employers are going to need to wrap their heads around this situation and create plans that allow this. I suspect the reason many employees are not transparent about what they are doing is that their employers won’t allow it. So they do it anyway and keep it under wraps. I don't think employers will do this, imo
MattGaiser 5y ago
Employers have that concern. Employees don’t. And most probably aren’t being upfront about it.

mooreds 5y ago

This is worth a read on that topic: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/developers-side-projects/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/developers-side-pr... (5 years old but a lot still applies)

marcus_holmes 5y ago

As a freelancer I've worked at multiple places simultaneously and never run into any problems like this.

mooreds 5y ago
Freelancers have a different set of expectations and norms, in my experience.
- candiodari 5y ago
  Yes as a freelancer I once got handed admin passwords to financial accounts containing hundreds of millions on your second day because the company has a problem that needs solving (and would have been first day had that been a full day instead of half), whereas as an employee you need to go through the company-designed teaching and vetting process lasting 6 months or more before they'll let you in the building where passwords to financial accounts are stored. Handed to me on a little scrap of paper that I "needed to make sure was properly destroyed at the end of the week". It was a firm that did financial transactions, so not only did those keys give access to the money itself, they also allowed one to approve normally refused transactions or vice versa (e.g. make a transaction with a wrong pin entered go through anyway). Obviously we were watched, but still.
  - mooreds 5y ago
    Sure. I bet the contract you signed put a lot of the responsibility on you (and you might have had to carry your own insurance, indemnify the company etc). So you were expected to have done the teaching and vetting process. Whereas the employees were part of the company and had a different set of expectations. If this wasn't the case, please share the company name so I can move all my money far far away from them :).
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
supahfly_remix 5y ago
He's not talking about freelancing, though: > I am not talking about freelancing, consulting, and the other forms of working for many clients. I am talking about holding down multiple full-time jobs at the same time.
- sillysaurusx 5y ago
  Hmm. I'm not sure why that line in the article exists. It sounds like they think that the arrangement would be different as a consultant. Functionally, it's not. (Except for lack of sick days...)
sriram_sun 5y ago
Depends on the contract. I consult for a surgical robotics company and the contract bars me from working for competitors for 1 year. Apparently the clause is more applicable to consultants than full-time employees. I have to look deeper into that (haven't had to yet).

janesvilleseo 5y ago

It’s like you become a business with multiple clients (employers).

notsureaboutpg 5y ago

Yeah, the article discusses this: >Employers are going to need to wrap their heads around this situation and create plans that allow this. I suspect the reason many employees are not transparent about what they are doing is that their employers won’t allow it. So they do it anyway and keep it under wraps. I don't think employers will do this, imo

MattGaiser 5y ago

Employers have that concern. Employees don’t. And most probably aren’t being upfront about it.