Newest Viral Work Trend…Are you “Overemployed?”
There has been a revolution in work in the United States, since the country shut down in 2020 and many people began working from home. The biggest new term everyone is hearing about is "quiet quitting". Unlike ordinary quitting, it's where burned out workers just vow to do the least possible to keep their job. The key to making that work out is the quiet part.
You don't want to spread that around at your workplace, or they might not so quietly quit you.
The newest employment buzzword trend is called "overemployed". No, it's not having a job that your under-qualified for. Overemployed is a trend where people are working two jobs, often full-time and often without either boss knowing. This is especially common in work from home positions.
There a lot of those types of jobs open right now in West Texas. LinkedIn and Indeed have over 300 current openings right now.
This is more common than you think. There's even an overemployed website and a lively Reddit forum to help people do it successfully and there are lots of tips for not getting caught. Working two full-time work from home jobs earns those who can figure out how to survive the long hours and keep everything straight, large six-figure incomes.
There are dangers. If you have them, read your employment contracts carefully. Some managerial positions have "full-time and attention" clauses that forbid second jobs. You could pay huge fines in some cases, if you work for two companies that compete.
There are those who choose to throw caution to the wind and to quote Nike, "Just Do It" when it comes to being overemployed. There is a credo enjoyed by people who do this and that credo revolves around the idea that no one company, no single employer, will be their only source of income. Never mind non competes and other such contracts.
In all the times I've had work from home positions, there were frequent checkups from the bosses. Sometimes, Zoom meetings were called with little notice to make sure I was at my desk and working. I think my biggest fear in doing the overemployment thing would be what if both jobs required mandatory Zoom calls at the same time.
I'm sure there's a way to do this. It might be very interesting to see video of someone pulling it off. It wouldn't be me though. I have trouble enough looking credible on one Zoom call.
At this point, just being employed is a status I'm more than happy with.