Jun 3, 2026
For generations, the work-life formula was straightforward: get a good job, work hard and climb up the corporate ladder.
But as the cost of living reaches new heights and wages stagnate, a new generation of workers is rising to the surface, and these workers are flipping the script by quietly holding down multiple jobs at the same time.
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Known as “overemployment,” the trend has been growing in frequency during the remote-work era and is particularly common within the IT and technology industries. As of April 2026, about 5.2% of American workers are multiple jobholders, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, 72% of Americans already admit to receiving income from a side hustle, according to a MyPerfectResume survey.
But overemployment wasn’t always in the limelight. In fact, it wasn’t until Suhail Doshi, the founder of tech startups Playground and Mixpanel, shared a viral post on X that people became more aware of the trend.
“PSA: there’s a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time,” Doshi wrote. “He’s been preying on YC companies and more. I fired this guy in his first week and told him to stop lying / scamming people. He hasn’t stopped a year later. No more excuses.”
The man that Doshi fired, however, is far from alone, as the r/overemployment community on Reddit has more than 430,000 members.
Why more workers are juggling multiple jobs
Joe Procopio, an artificial intelligence and tech pundit, posited on LinkedIn that the overemployment trend is not just about the money. It tells a sitcom-worthy story, though. One that CEOs and HR departments have been aware of for years but haven’t been able to sniff out, even when it’s “right under their noses.”
Still, if money isn’t the main motivator, Procopio suspects it may be revenge.
“A lot of these jobs are being held down by folks like me, as legitimate independent contractors who are up-front about their free agency,” he admitted in his LinkedIn post. “But I’ll remind you that the concept of a job is evolving, mostly because employers throttled loyalty to near zero, meaning pretty much all jobs can be considered contract jobs now.”
Business Insider followed an IT professional who goes by “Damien” as he juggled five full-time jobs and pulled in $746,000 per year.
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Five years ago, Damien had a job in remote IT support and was earning around $90,000 per year. When he received an offer for a different remote role with a $110,000 salary, Damien considered quitting his job in order to take on the more lucrative opportunity. However, seeing an opportunity to more than double his income, he decided to secretly work both jobs.
Pseudonym aside, the verified Damien has used his earnings to support his family, buy a car and prepare for a world where there are fewer jobs. He stopped short of picking up a sixth job when he heard about the layoffs within his industry.
"I don't want to take all the jobs that are available when there are people out there that truly need roles," said Damien, a millennial who lives on the west coast.
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How dependent are you on a single-job income stream?
While overemployment seems to be fairly popular, Procopio does wonder just how long someone can keep so many balls up in the air.
“It begs the question,” Procopio asked in his LinkedIn post. “How long can someone keep up the ruse? Well, if television has taught us anything, it’s that this scheme always ends in sadness for everyone involved.”
Working five full-time jobs would elicit a scoff from most people. But even if doing such a thing isn’t realistic or appealing to you, the overemployment trend raises an important question: How dependent are you on a single source of income?
The workers who are picking up multiple jobs are responding to the broader reality. Layoffs can happen with little warning, industries can change quickly and career paths are no longer straightforward. Building additional income streams is becoming the norm and can help create a financial buffer when the unexpected happens.
However, there are many things that could go wrong when a worker is tending to as many as five jobs at the same time.
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Brian Baker is an Associate Editor with Moneywise. He has been a media professional for over 20 years.
