[throwaway1492]

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.

[UncleOxidant]

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]

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.

[jokethrowaway]

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"

[tunesmith]

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.

[zerohp]

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.

[gedy]

> 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?

[gemstones]

Unethical according to your system of ethics. I never claimed that was part of my ethical system.

Unless you’re religious or something and believe in a global definition of ethics that applies to everyone, there’s no real point in telling everyone what’s unethical. Is it unethical to you? Great! Then you don’t do it. I will do what I want.

[jokethrowaway]

It's wrong if it's a breach of contract.

Nothing unethical to having multiple jobs. Plenty of poor people outside of tech do it

[allarm]

> what a trash heap of replies

You should expect exactly that when using phrases like “it’s wrong, period”. There are not many things in this world that are wrong, period. Over employment is not one of them, period.

[solumos]

My contracts don't have any stipulations about outside work and don't require me to commit to a certain number of hours.

What's the meaningful ethical difference between an individual with multiple W2 income streams, and a sole prop with multiple 1099s?

[gwnywg]

I was contemplating this some time ago and realized my contract is to commit 8 hours a day to my customer. I personally could not mentally carry the weight of not delivering what I agreed and since I have family I can't do 2x8 hours a day. So your opinion makes sense to me. I personally know people who have 2+ remote jobs and I keep hearing they actually half do them and they can only do this because the work place does not seem to care.

[throwawaysleep]

For the rest of us, we call ethics problems “opportunities.”

[thih9]

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]

They usually don’t update it and that’s a telltale sign

[VoodooJuJu]

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]

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.

[throwawaysleep]

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