people are now working two full-time jobs? wait... what?
First there was the Great Resignation. Then people began quiet quitting. And now people are multiworking and overemployed?
First, it was the Great Resignation of 2021. The workers of the world were overworked and overwhelmed. The world had been falling apart for over a year; our children were struggling in schools and at home; a debilitating virus (sometimes deadly) was wreaking havoc on every aspect of society, from education to healthcare to rising costs of basic needs to supply chain issues; and everyone was dealing with their own unique set of life’s worries. During this this time, and for myriad reasons, people began leaving their jobs.
Maybe they were burned out. Maybe they didn’t like how their employer had handled the pandemic. Maybe they didn’t like how people handled them at their jobs during the pandemic. (Who didn’t witness a customer speak unkindly to a restaurant worker, yell at a flight attendant, or complain to a receptionist?) Still others left jobs because they found the opportunity during the initial lockdown to learn something new or to give their side hustle an honest effort and discovered that they could actually make a living doing something they’d rather do. Who can blame someone for leaving one job because the learned how to sustain themselves with their passion project?
After the Great Resignation of 2021 came the much talked about phenomenon of quiet quitting, “where (according to a viral TikTok video from Zaid Khan) you’re not quitting your job, but quitting the idea of going above and beyond at work. You’re still performing your duties, but you’re not subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that your work is your life.”
Cal Newport explored quiet quitting in a piece he wrote for The New Yorker using a generational lens and a Gallup poll that suggested that the majority of quiet quitters were born after 1989. He summarized his own thesis on his website as follows:
“…quiet quitting represents Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) taking their turn at a reckoning with work that older generations have already gone through.”
I guess we can compare this particular conclusion with how Generation Xers (a generation never mentioned in any of Newport’s writings, aka the lost generation) wrestled with the concept of “work-life balance.”
But I’m not really buying either of those generational points. I honestly think there were people who, during the early years of the pandemic, realized there was more to life than working in a career or job that no longer brought them joy. So they Marie Kondoed their work life. Good for them!
Many people in media, like Kevin O’Leary of CNBC, declared that quiet quitting “was worse than Covid.”
“If you’re a quiet quitter, you’re a loser,” O’Leary said.
Okaaaay, Kevin… *insert eye roll
I liked how Amy Landino described quiet quitting in this video.
In a nutshell, she explained that quiet quitters were employees who were doing the bare minimum in their jobs, performing their exact job descriptions, what was laid out for them in the employee handbook, and no more. And these quiet quitters only performed at this minimum standard because they didn’t feel they were receiving enough pay, enough respect, or the right communication necessary to feel valued in their positions.
So… who’s the bad guy here? The employee or management/employers?
Look, the pandemic made life difficult for everyone. EVERYONE! Management struggled with their own personal issues while also trying to “manage” employees who were struggling. Everyone was moving to Zoom/vidoe for meetings, family gatherings, and even happy hours. If we thought communication among management and their employees before the pandemic, work relationships did NOT thrive during.
I’m not taking up for management. It was their job to figure it out. And if they didn’t, you can’t blame their employees for wanting more.
Landino went on to claim that these quiet quitters were actually doing their employers a favor. Instead of leaving a job immediately and forcing their employer to look for other talent (which is often difficult to find), they were actually still doing their job while quietly looking for another. While the term “quiet quitting” might be new, the concept is not.
While I think there is still a large number of quiet quitters in the workforce, whether they be millennial (like Cal Newport suggests) or employees who are simply wishing for a better job with caring management, we’ve now moved on to another interesting phenomenon: multiworking or overemployed.
According to Chris Guillibeau of Side Hustle School:
“Multiworking—where people work multiple, full-time jobs simultaneously without either employer being aware of it—is a product of the pandemic remote work lifestyle.”
This trend became so popular last year that an entire website and online community, overemployed.com, is devoted to helping workers discover the best ways to work more than one job, and, in many cases, multiple full-time jobs.
From the website:
“Overemployed is a community of professionals looking to work two remote jobs, earn extra income, and achieve financial freedom. Be free from office politics and layoffs. Instead, improve your mental health and negotiate a severance.”
After spending just five minutes exploring their website, I was more than impressed with the energy of the people on it. Just check out the FAQ to see the types of issues that people who are considering working multiple jobs are asking.
These are people who are building careers by holding multiple positions in fields they wish to explore. They’re juggling meetings, overlapping hours, multiple benefit packages, and employment agreements that may or may not hold up in a court of law.
But what I find most interesting about this latest phenomenon is the stark difference between the overemployed and the people resigning in 2021 and quiet quitting in 2022. And this trend in overemployment is overlapping with quiet quitting.
Maybe quiet quitting is allowing some to multi-work. I don’t know…
While I don’t know anyone, personally, who is working two full-time jobs at once, I’m fascinated at the prospect of knowing people who are doing this.
Honestly, I’d like to complete their tax returns! (This thought occurred to me after reading the FAQ I mentioned above. So, if you’re overemployed and in need of a CPA, call me. Just kidding… sort of.) How are the overemployed handling tax jurisdictions, assuming they’re in multiple? Are they maximizing their 401K/retirement plans? How do they handle their LinkedIn? What do they tell their friends or acquaintances at cocktail parties?
Like the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, I’m sure there are many who are simply aghast at the idea that workers might be “sneaking around”, as Chris Guillibeau put it, double booking their days.
Is it unethical? Maybe. Maybe not.
I think it depends on how the person handles their own personal situation. Do they handle it unethically? Are they working one job while they’re supposed to be present at another?
Is this any different than someone starting a side hustle while simultaneously working a job? What about someone who gets up at 5 a.m. and works two hours before their “day job” on novel writing then returns to their novel late into the night?
Or what about the person who starts one of the many side hustles featured by Chris Guillibeau in his book and podcast on the subject? Many side hustles turn into full-time ventures.
And if you think all employers are against the idea of their employees multi working, think again. Just check out “How 3 Managers Reacted to an Employee Working 2 Full-Time Jobs.”
Like those managers, I have lots of questions. Most of them center around the well-being of the employees. But I’d also love to know what’s driving this latest phenomenon?
Is it money? Are people needing two incomes to survive rising economical costs? Are they wanting more income to accelerate retirement? Or are they looking for ways to improve their lifestyle?
Is it the desire for multiple income streams, or diversification?
Are workers wanting to keep one reliable source of income while exploring a different career?
Are they just people who get bored easily and like to stay busy?
I’m also interested in knowing how people are pulling this off. I work remotely, full-time during parts of the year, and during those parts, I can’t imagine trying to work another full-time job. I even quit a part-time side hustle because I just couldn’t make it work with my schedule.
Mathematically, sure, we can work two forty-hour jobs. There are 168 hours in a week. If you subtract 8 hours a day for sleeping, you’re left with 112 hours. Let’s say you need three hours a day, on average, for eating, exercising, and taking care of basic hygiene—I would argue that’s bare minimum. You’re now left with 91 hours.
Based on that very basic math, you now have 11 hours remaining in your week for anything personal you need to take care of. Think of all the things you do that is not work: TV watching, reading, grocery shopping, medical appointments, spending time with family and friends…
Is working two full-time jobs sustainable long-term?
When I think about the Great Resignation and how many were quitting jobs because they were overworked and overwhelmed…
And when I consider the reasons some were quiet quitting was because they were underpaid and under-appreciated…
I can’t help but wonder if the people who are working multiple full-time jobs are inflicting more harm on themselves.
At least when I considered those who were quitting or quiet quitting, I felt we, as a society, were starting to see the value of our time and our mental health over corporate hustle culture. But I worry that the stress of juggling two full-time jobs along with the stress of working the max number of hours week after week would send many people’s mental health into a downward spiral eventually. Is it sustainable?
I’m certainly not criticizing anyone for deciding for themselves what they can handle in life. Maybe you love both of your jobs. Maybe you love one of them to an extent that it feels like vacation, but the other pays the bulk of your bills.
But in a world of increasing mental health struggles and during an era when time is our scarcest resource, this idea of overemployment doesn’t feel like the right answer. But who am I to say? I’m sitting here writing this at 5 a.m. on a Monday before I start a week in my busy corporate job.
Hell, the name of this Substack is On My Terms. If these social movements aren’t evidence of people deciding their own terms, I don’t know what is.
I’m dying to know your thoughts on these subjects. Or if you’re one of these people who have made major changes to how you’ve decided to run your professional or job life. Reply to this email or drop a note in the comments. Let’s discuss!
If you enjoyed this, do me a favor and hit the ❤️ button. And don’t forget to subscribe.
Thanks for reading. This newsletter is a reader-supported publication. The best way to support it is to buy my books or become a paid subscriber (but you can also subscribe for free).
I want to send out a special “Thank you” to recent paid subscribers. Because of generous people like you, I can continue to publish articles like this.