Have you ever been in a work meeting and wondered why a colleague always keeps their camera off? Or why they’re always seemingly offline on Slack? It might be because they are trying to get away with an elaborate plot to work at two companies at once—or maybe close to half a dozen—and bring in a salary exceeding $500,000.
“I fired this guy in his first week and told him to stop lying / scamming people. He hasn’t stopped a year later,” Doshi said in the post. “No more excuses.”
“I tell them up front that I’m a ‘consultant,’” the user wrote. “I won’t be at the all-hands meeting. I skip daily stand-up calls. They know how to reach me if I’m needed, but I keep distance from the organization. I’ll get a few tough things assigned in a sprint and solve them at some point over two weeks. They leave me alone.”
“I’m determined and vigilant,” they added. “Never letting a plate drop. Always checking emails and Teams throughout the day. Up early, working multiple time zones across the US.”
While Fortune could not verify the authenticity of Doshi or the Reddit user’s employment status, it signals a broader ability for workers’ desire and ability to balance multiple “full-time” jobs and rake in high salaries.
“If you’re not skilled enough to pull this off you could end up screwing up your career. Don’t try this before you’re ready,” the FAQ states. “If you have to ask questions like ‘How do I find a second job?’ you’re not ready.”
Remote work is prime territory for overemployment, but dealing with RTO or an occasional in-person meeting is possible to handle, too. The page suggests finding disused office spots or the parking lot to take calls for all your other gigs.
“People take personal calls all the time,” it advises. “If you don’t act nervous then you won’t look suspicious.”
“Every CEO and HR department already knows about OE (overemployment) and has for well over a decade,” the overemployed Reddit community FAQ says.
“This isn’t a new thing. It’s all the quiet quitters out there who slack off and deliver nothing of value while working remote(ly) that are causing problems. Not the folks who are delivering as expected at multiple jobs.”
