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In 2018 I was working low effort job at a insurance/finance type company that was having layoffs. So I started interviewing for a new job, and landed a remote j

In 2018 I was working low effort job at a insurance/finance type company that was having layoffs. So I started interviewing for a new job, and landed a remote job and took it. I didn't quit my old job. So I worked two jobs for about a year and went and got a third remote job (these were software dev jobs, w2). I did this through part of the pandemic. Working three jobs was doable when it was just me at home, but with the family home during lockdown it was too stressful so I quit two. I made A LOT of money during this time. But if I had it to do over, I'd focus on getting one high paying FAANG job instead. Apparently this became common at some point, "over employment" is a thing now, with a subreddit and everything.

VoodooJuJu 3y ago
Unfortunately, the overemployment subreddit is mostly just fan fiction, but for a time, it was a reality for some, and for a lucky few, still is.
- dilyevsky 3y ago
  Maybe the subreddit is fanfic but the phenomenon itself is definitely not - I’ve been told by multiple founders they had experienced it with remote employees.
UncleOxidant 3y ago
I know someone who had 2 FT remote engineering jobs for a bit last year. It only lasted about 4 months before the plate-spinning got to be too much and he ended up with just one of the jobs. And then because his performance had been kind of spotty while juggling the two jobs his review wasn't great and he lost that one too.
- freedomben 3y ago
  This is the more common outcome than the successful ones, but people are often embarrassed to share so they are much less reported. I've seen great engineers end up falling flat on their ass because of trying to do this. The majority of people just don't have the ability/capacity to be good at two jobs, and once people notice that you're meh or worse, it's very difficult to change that. Most people are better off just kicking ass at one job, than being acceptable at two.
  - throwawaysleep 3y ago
    Meh is fine. I’m better off doing Mechanical Turk than trying to go above meh at an employers.
  - thih9 3y ago
    Now I wonder about the negative scenarios. E.g. did someone use their personal github account to join two organizations. Or was there an employee transfer from one company to the other. The possibilities are endless.
  - dakiol 3y ago
    What about one senior engineer working as senior for a few years in company X and then joining in parallel company Y but working as non-senior (it’s easy to hide working experience in your cv). Doesn’t sound that stressful.
- jokethrowaway 3y ago
  I know someone who did it successfully - unfortunately one of the company is failing though so he'll have to come back in our income bracket I think it's a sad reflection of company culture of this time if you can put in 1hr of work per day and coast along. We really got soft with all this bs. Which is why I don't have employees, just contractors I paid (quite a bit) to deliver results - not butts in seats or doing "anti-harassment training"
  - throwawaysleep 3y ago
    Larger companies tend to be bogged down with dependencies that can easily leave you waiting on someone, especially if you have no incentive to press them to move quickly. There’s no reason to care as an employee. I get paid whether or not our customers are upset (not long term, but long enough for me).
throwawaysleep 3y ago
I’m doing it and most friends were doing it. Layoffs have taken a lot down to just one job though.
tunesmith 3y ago
I'm sorry, I just have to say it. Over-employment is unethical and SW devs just shouldn't do it. It's ethical to have multiple 1099 or corporate clients; just bite the bullet and go into business for yourself. I don't care about arguments regarding the unethical things employers do to employees. It's wrong, period. edit: what a trash heap of replies.
- throwawaysleep 3y ago
  For the rest of us, we call ethics problems “opportunities.”
- gedy 3y ago
  > Over-employment is unethical If the dev is actually not performing/delivering. If there's no complaints, and they are on salary (not hourly), what exactly is the ethical problem here?
  - notahacker 3y ago
    Most people consider most deception unethical. And most people would consider it unethical to exploiting the difficulty of quantifying the work they do, colleagues' misplaced trust in your estimates of how long it would take to fix and them ultimately not complaining about your performance levels mainly because they mistakenly believe you're actually trying your best and will get better in a few months time... to earn twice as much as everyone else. For the avoidance of doubt I thought there was absolutely nothing unethical about my coworker who was approached about a job in a different timezone and told everyone he'd taken it but was happy to work before 5pm.
- zerohp 3y ago
  Can you make a compelling argument? Just saying it’s wrong is not an argument. If employers don’t like it then they should pay by the hour for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  - pillefitz 3y ago
    I don't know about you, but my contract states I'm supposed to work X hours and includes a passage on how overtime is handled. The rest is common sense: That an additional, equivalent job can't possibly be done well. Your employer pays for your (mental, in this case) energy.
thih9 3y ago
I’m curious, how does an over employed person update their resume or their LinkedIn profile. I guess they pick just one position and don’t mention the other(s). Still, this could lead to some interesting scenarios.
- dilyevsky 3y ago
  They usually don’t update it and that’s a telltale sign

VoodooJuJu 3y ago

Unfortunately, the overemployment subreddit is mostly just fan fiction, but for a time, it was a reality for some, and for a lucky few, still is.

dilyevsky 3y ago
Maybe the subreddit is fanfic but the phenomenon itself is definitely not - I’ve been told by multiple founders they had experienced it with remote employees.

UncleOxidant 3y ago

I know someone who had 2 FT remote engineering jobs for a bit last year. It only lasted about 4 months before the plate-spinning got to be too much and he ended up with just one of the jobs. And then because his performance had been kind of spotty while juggling the two jobs his review wasn't great and he lost that one too.

freedomben 3y ago
This is the more common outcome than the successful ones, but people are often embarrassed to share so they are much less reported. I've seen great engineers end up falling flat on their ass because of trying to do this. The majority of people just don't have the ability/capacity to be good at two jobs, and once people notice that you're meh or worse, it's very difficult to change that. Most people are better off just kicking ass at one job, than being acceptable at two.
- throwawaysleep 3y ago
  Meh is fine. I’m better off doing Mechanical Turk than trying to go above meh at an employers.
- thih9 3y ago
  Now I wonder about the negative scenarios. E.g. did someone use their personal github account to join two organizations. Or was there an employee transfer from one company to the other. The possibilities are endless.
- dakiol 3y ago
  What about one senior engineer working as senior for a few years in company X and then joining in parallel company Y but working as non-senior (it’s easy to hide working experience in your cv). Doesn’t sound that stressful.
jokethrowaway 3y ago
I know someone who did it successfully - unfortunately one of the company is failing though so he'll have to come back in our income bracket I think it's a sad reflection of company culture of this time if you can put in 1hr of work per day and coast along. We really got soft with all this bs. Which is why I don't have employees, just contractors I paid (quite a bit) to deliver results - not butts in seats or doing "anti-harassment training"
- throwawaysleep 3y ago
  Larger companies tend to be bogged down with dependencies that can easily leave you waiting on someone, especially if you have no incentive to press them to move quickly. There’s no reason to care as an employee. I get paid whether or not our customers are upset (not long term, but long enough for me).

throwawaysleep 3y ago

I’m doing it and most friends were doing it. Layoffs have taken a lot down to just one job though.

tunesmith 3y ago

I'm sorry, I just have to say it. Over-employment is unethical and SW devs just shouldn't do it. It's ethical to have multiple 1099 or corporate clients; just bite the bullet and go into business for yourself. I don't care about arguments regarding the unethical things employers do to employees. It's wrong, period. edit: what a trash heap of replies.

throwawaysleep 3y ago
For the rest of us, we call ethics problems “opportunities.”
gedy 3y ago
> Over-employment is unethical If the dev is actually not performing/delivering. If there's no complaints, and they are on salary (not hourly), what exactly is the ethical problem here?
- notahacker 3y ago
  Most people consider most deception unethical. And most people would consider it unethical to exploiting the difficulty of quantifying the work they do, colleagues' misplaced trust in your estimates of how long it would take to fix and them ultimately not complaining about your performance levels mainly because they mistakenly believe you're actually trying your best and will get better in a few months time... to earn twice as much as everyone else. For the avoidance of doubt I thought there was absolutely nothing unethical about my coworker who was approached about a job in a different timezone and told everyone he'd taken it but was happy to work before 5pm.
zerohp 3y ago
Can you make a compelling argument? Just saying it’s wrong is not an argument. If employers don’t like it then they should pay by the hour for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- pillefitz 3y ago
  I don't know about you, but my contract states I'm supposed to work X hours and includes a passage on how overtime is handled. The rest is common sense: That an additional, equivalent job can't possibly be done well. Your employer pays for your (mental, in this case) energy.

thih9 3y ago

I’m curious, how does an over employed person update their resume or their LinkedIn profile. I guess they pick just one position and don’t mention the other(s). Still, this could lead to some interesting scenarios.

dilyevsky 3y ago
They usually don’t update it and that’s a telltale sign