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- đź’ĄOver-Employment Is the New Side Hustle
đź’ĄOver-Employment Is the New Side Hustle
Is one job really enough? Why thousands are rethinking the 9-to-5 with this risky-but-rewarding trend.
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Hey there, underpaid professionals!
Ever notice how the same employers who said “we’re one team, one dream” during layoffs are now shocked, that you’re quietly working two jobs?
Apparently, keeping your head above water in today’s economy is now a character flaw.
Over-employment.
Once framed as hustle, now labeled betrayal. Because if you're answering emails for two companies instead of one, clearly you’re the problem - not the stagnant wages, rising living expenses, or bonus structures that require divine intervention to unlock.
Welcome to the delightful chaos of late-stage labor, where companies cry about loyalty while paying in exposure, demand transparency while hiding layoffs, and want your “whole self” at work, unless that self is tired, broke, or multi-employed.
It’s like being asked to fix the plumbing while the building’s still on fire.
🧨 THE RANT
"How Many Jobs Do You Have?”
“...Three. Technically.”
Ah, the modern workplace, where your paycheck can’t afford your rent, but your employer wants full-time loyalty and your soul in Slack by 9:00am sharp.
Let’s be real: Over-employment isn’t “betrayal.”
And if you think this is rare, think again. Remote workers are out here running more than one job. Not because they’re greedy, but because a single income now covers less than your manager’s hair transplant.
You want to talk about betrayal?
Try being told you're a “family” while budgeting groceries like a grad student with a gambling problem.
Try being paid $65K in 2025 while inflation bends you over like Toby from The Office in a team-building exercise.
We’re underpaid, and done asking for permission to survive.
Truth Be Told…
Over-employment isn’t deceit. It’s economic adaptation.
A 2025 survey of 1,250 full-time remote workers in the U.S. found that 69% have a second job with 37% working two full-time jobs and 32% holding a full-time job and a side gig. Of those with two full-time jobs, 45% say both are remote.
But here’s the truth: you can’t ask for undivided loyalty while offering divided compensation.
They realized the single-job system was cheating them and acted accordingly.
This isn’t about greed. It’s about rent, groceries, and stability.
And if your company’s business model collapses because someone dared to earn enough to survive?
That’s not a worker problem. That’s a leadership failure.
đź“Š DATA THEY HOPE YOU IGNORE
39% of those working two remote jobs said it’s possible because neither job requires a full 40-hour week; however, 34% do report working more than 40 hours per week to keep up with both.
Translation?
We cracked the code: one job pays rent, the other pays for therapy. Both pay just enough to panic when rent and therapy land on the same day.
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đź’¬ Real Talk
You're not wrong for feeling grateful.
Nor are you wrong for feeling conflicted.
The system wasn't built for us to just to barely sustain it, we shouldn't have to game it to thrive. But when loyalty is rewarded with layoffs, we adapt.
Over-employment isn't about greed. It's about managing risk in a job market that sees workers as expendable.
It's not a moral failing.
It's a adaptation strategy, one with upsides and trade-offs.
Guilt might sneak in, and that's okay.
But let's be real: you didn’t make the living wage unlivable.
You just stopped letting it break you.
Which brings us to…
đź’ˇ POWER MOVES OF THE WEEK
When you’re double-booked, you don’t panic, you pivot.
Overlapping meetings aren’t just a logistical mess, they’re a test of presence, prep, and plausible deniability. The goal isn’t to fake it, it’s to strategically disappear, reappear, and deliver just enough to stay credible in both jobs.
Below are 7 tactically vague moves for surviving the overlap without getting caught: