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In 2004, Brian decided that he didn’t want his family to be reliant on one source of income.
He’d heard about too many people who lost their jobs seemingly out of nowhere, and he wanted to do whatever he could to protect himself from that situation, he told Business Insider. So he started looking for part-time remote jobs in addition to his full-time remote role in the IT industry.
“We started being less dependent on one company by being employed by more than one company,” said Brian, whose identity is known to BI but has been withheld due to his fear of professional repercussions. “If something went wrong, then no big loss. We just temporarily lost a paycheck.”
Over the next 15 years, working side jobs gave Brian the additional income and job security he was looking for. But it wasn’t until around 2020, when there was one month of overlap in his transition from one full-time job to another, that he realized he might be able to secretly juggle two full-time jobs simultaneously. So he decided to give it a shot.
Last year, Brian earned over $150,000 across multiple remote jobs, according to documents viewed by BI. He said the extra income has helped him pay down credit card debt and allowed his family to take trips for up to six weeks at a time while he works remotely. He said he currently has two full-time and four part-time jobs and only lives in the US for part of the year because he travels internationally so frequently.
Managing all these jobs can be stressful at times — Brian said there have been many “100-plus hour weeks” over the past few years. But he said the long hours are worth it: Last year, he was laid off from one of his jobs, but he was well prepared for it.
“The biggest impact has been the confidence that our family’s future is not tied to the success of any one job or any one company,” Brian said.
Brian is among the “overemployed” Americans who have secretly worked multiple remote gigs to increase their incomes and job security — BI has interviewed over two dozen of these job jugglers. These people have made as much as $1 million annually across their jobs and used their extra income to pay off student debt, save for retirement, and afford expensive vacations.
While some companies may be OK with their employees doing extra work on the side, doing so without approval could have consequences. Additionally, competition for remote roles, return-to-office mandates, and burnout have led some job jugglers to question whether overemployment is sustainable.
Brian shared his “secret sauce” for avoiding burnout and his top tips for overemployed workers.
The “secret sauce” to avoiding burnout as a job juggler
Working two full-time jobs at once can be financially lucrative but also mentally taxing. To stay motivated, Brian, who’s in his 40s, said he has a “secret sauce” for avoiding burnout: He only juggles two full-time roles for a portion of the year.
“When it starts to feel like a drain on family time or fun time, that simply means we evaluate our situation and I choose to continue with the full-time role that has the best potential to maintain our lifestyle until the next overemployed opportunity shows up,” he said.
While it might seem risky to drop a remote job and count on finding a new one later — especially when remote roles have become so competitive — Brian said he’s become quite good at finding remote roles. He said he regularly hears from recruiters and recently interviewed for three full-time remote positions in the same week.
Additionally, Brian said applying and interviewing regularly for jobs has helped him stay up-to-date on hiring trends and learn about roles that he can circle back to later when he wants to take on more work. He said he’s taken on a mix of salaried and contract roles throughout his overemployed experience.
Valuing time management and staggering working hours can help the overemployed
Brian said he keeps his overemployment a secret from his full-time employers. He has a few pieces of advice for current and aspiring job jugglers when it comes to avoiding suspicion.
First, he said it’s helpful to find jobs where employers don’t require workers to have their cameras on during meetings.
Second, from a time management perspective, he said it’s helpful to have jobs that have staggered working hours — perhaps because the companies are based in different locations. He said this reduces the amount of time one has overlapping working hours across their jobs.
Lastly, Brian recommended doing whatever one can to improve their time management skills.
“Build a 24-hour calendar that allows you to strictly block off the most important part of your day,” he said.
Going forward, Brian said he plans to continue job juggling for the foreseeable future and that he’s considering taking on a third full-time gig for a while to boost his income and job security even further. For him to consider working just one job, he said it would have to be remote and pay at least $250,000 annually.
For now, one job isn’t enough. He just wouldn’t be able to trust that his employment would last.
“Most roles today come with an inherent longevity risk,” he said. “That includes everything from a role being eliminated all the way to the department or the company being subjected to major staffing changes.”
Are you working multiple remote jobs at the same time and willing to discuss details about your pay and schedule? If so, reach out to this reporter at [email protected].
