With the rise of remote work has come the concurrent rise of “overemployment”—workers who are secretly employed at multiple full-time jobs at the same time.
In an article for Vanity Fair, author Nick Bilton explores the prevalence of the phenomena, noting that an “overemployment” subreddit was launched in the midst of the pandemic for users to share their methods of job-juggling. The community now has over 100,000 members.
“[Users] spend part of their time sharing tips and tricks for how to pull off multiple jobs and the rest of their time bragging about how much money they are making,” Bilton writes. “This new world of work has its own mini subculture, with new lingo. A first job is called a J1, a second job is a J2, and so on…all the way up to a J5.”
While this has proven positive for workers, managers and company higher-ups have had a different reaction. Earlier in the year, a LinkedIn post went viral in which a CEO claimed he fired two employees for secretly working two jobs at once.
“To me, this isn’t some fun new social trend,” the CEO detailed in the post, per Insider. “It’s a new form of theft and deception, and not something in which an ethical, honest person would participate.”
But no matter what management thinks, users across the internet remain positive about the idea of having multiple income streams.
One such user is TikToker Haley (@haley.hustles), who runs a popular TikTok page dedicated to remote work, “side gigs,” and “hustles.”
While many of her videos offer tips for those interested in remote work, others are skits and jokes. She recently went viral after posting a video related to working multiple jobs on TikTok, quickly garnering over 187,000 views.
@haley.hustles like let me live, l can invest all this money into a Roth IRA & a small business & be financially free 😐 #remotejobs #remote #wfh #workfromhome #workathome #workremote #wfhjobs #wfhlife #worklifebalance #workathomeessentials #remoteworkessentials #corporateoffice #homeoffice #homeofficedecor #homeofficeideas #affiliatemarketing #dropshipping #smallbusinesscheck #smallbusiness ♬ original sound – Schitt’s Creek
In the video, Haley writes, “When your elders keep telling you to ‘get a real job’ because remote jobs are going to be outsourced but you can literally work 4 remote jobs at the same time & make $60 an hour.”
“Mmk, well I won’t be doing any of that, but thank you,” she lip-syncs in the video.
In the caption, she adds, “like let me live, l can invest all this money into a Roth IRA & a small business & be financially free.”
While it’s unclear whether Haley is referring to a series of side hustles or the “overemployment” mentioned above, users were excited by the idea, with many saying that remote work is here to stay.
“My company has employed people remotely, globally, for over a decade,” wrote a commenter. “It isn’t going anywhere.”
“My sister has a remote job making 140k with traveling, working 4 days a week & my parents are always saying when will you be going back to nursing,” added a second.
“When are the ‘elders’ going to come to terms with the fact that we live in a different worlddddd,” questioned a third.
Update 2:40pm CT, Nov. 17: In an Instagram DM exchange with Daily Dot, Haley elaborated on her advice, saying that she has long been documenting her working-from-home journey on her website.
“Yes, so you can honestly work multiple work-at-home jobs at different times & days,” she says. “I would DEFINITELY not recommend working all 4 full time at the same exact time. That’s WAY TOO MUCH work. But I would say maybe juggle two non-phone jobs (data entry, email chat support, or a side hustle) at the same time Monday thru Friday perhaps & then do a part time work at home jobs on the weekends & even a part time overnight shift. I personally won’t mention my exact companies I worked or any deep details to avoid issues, but generally you want to space them out & get either low call volume call center jobs or some easy freelance, transcription, data entry, or virtual assistant jobs.”
As to how to get started, her advice is simple.
“A great way to just get started on [your] multiple income journey honestly is to just DO IT. Just start. Start researching ‘ways to make passive income’ and practice. Affiliate marketing, print on demand, dropshipping, remote closing, UGC Creator, selling digital products, etc. just start!” she exclaims. “Once you start, you will gain enough motivation & momentum to keep trying! If you want it that bad, you will do ANYTHING to get it. I failed 3 dropshipping stores & could’ve just given up. But I stayed consistent & tried other ways to make money. Now I make an extra $2.5k a month and it’s only been 3 months since I started all of this. Just start. You will find your way! That’s my advice.”
Thankfully, Haley says she is no longer working four jobs.
“I am currently not working 4 work at home jobs anymore since I have other ways of making income. I have one main job & multiple side hustles. And also, I am not encouraging [everyone] to work multiple work at-home-jobs at the same time! To each their own,” she concludes.
