Polyworking or Wage Theft? Why More Workers Are Secretly Juggling Multiple Jobs

Being “overemployed” (OE) refers to secretly working two or more full-time jobs during overlapping work hours. It falls under the broader trend of polyworking, which refers to holding multiple jobs or income streams simultaneously.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 8 million Americans now work multiple jobs. Roughly 4.8 million hold a full-time primary job alongside a part-time secondary role, while approximately 386,000 people work two full-time jobs simultaneously. 1

As noted in one Fortune article, while holding multiple jobs isn’t new, remote work and AI-powered productivity tools have made overemployment significantly easier to sustain.

For many workers, polyworking is less about ambition and more about survival.

A Monster poll found that 47% of workers currently hold multiple jobs, while 51% of respondents said the additional income is essential for covering basic monthly expenses. 2 Monster’s 2025 cost-of-living report also found that 95% of workers believed wages have failed to keep pace with inflation. 3

“The pay deficiency triggers financial stress and the pursuit of side hustles,” said Vicki Salemi, a career expert at Monster.

In other words, many workers no longer view one paycheck as sufficient.

This aligns with findings from our own 2024 polyworking report, which found that financial security was the primary motivator.

The death of workplace loyalty

Financial advisor Joseph Eschleman told ABC10 that relying on one employer now “feels risky,” which leads workers to diversify their income streams as a form of “job insurance.”

Users on Reddit’s r/overemployed forum believe that companies betrayed their loyalty first by replacing stable pensions with 401(k)s, stripping away healthcare benefits, and using mass layoffs as a standard business tool. Therefore, workers feel they owe nothing to companies that would supposedly fire them without consideration if it benefited the bottom line.

“Professional loyalty is dead. Been dead for a long time,” said one Redditor. “Not because employees aren’t loyal but because employers aren’t.”

Holding multiple jobs is generally not illegal in the US, but it can violate employment agreements.

As noted in one Bamboo HR article, some employers include exclusivity clauses, conflict-of-interest provisions, or outside-employment disclosure requirements in contracts and employee handbooks.

So, while overemployed workers are unlikely to face criminal consequences, they can still be terminated “for cause,” meaning they’ll potentially lose their severance packages, benefits, or future references.

In more serious situations, employees who misuse proprietary company information or equipment across jobs could even face civil legal action.

The morality of overemployment remains deeply divisive.

Critics argue that employees collecting multiple full-time salaries while failing to fully commit to each role are effectively engaging in workplace dishonesty.

Supporters, however, point to what they see as a corporate double standard.

High-level executives and CEOs frequently sit on multiple boards of directors or run several companies simultaneously (with one infamous example being Elon Musk), yet rank-and-file workers are expected to give full loyalty to just one employer.

“Mind you, bosses often [breach] employees’ contracts making them to do extra work with no pay raise, no bonuses, or no extra pay,” wrote one Redditor. “But it’s not okay when we breach our own contract to do OE? Gimme a break.”

Younger workers are the least loyal

Younger generations seem to reject traditional career paths centered around long-term loyalty to a single employer. Instead of climbing the corporate ladder, many Gen Z workers now prioritize flexibility, multiple income streams, and personal autonomy (a trend sometimes referred to as conscious unbossing).

They also appear to be leading the polyworking movement.

In 2023, Fortune reported that Gen Z were the most likely to hold multiple jobs (around 93% of Gen Zers), with 47% of them were juggling three or more employers simultaneously, in comparison to 33% of millennials, 28% of baby boomers, and 23% of Gen X professionals.

“Gen Z are known for their entrepreneurial mindset,” said Lucy Bisset, Director of recruitment firm Robert Walters North, “preferring to bring their ‘whole self’ to projects and spend time cultivating their own brand and approach.”

The biggest risk of overemployment is exposure.

For Soham Parekh, public attention was a positive thing; it led to notoriety and even new opportunities within the tech industry. For most workers, however, the consequences can be severe.

Polyworking may result in higher scrutiny for remote workers

Remote work has historically operated on a trust-based model where (most) employers focused more on output than constant supervision.

But high-profile overemployment cases like Parekh’s have made many companies more suspicious of remote employees, especially workers who avoid cameras, delay responses, or appear unavailable during work hours.

Some executives now cite overemployment as justification for stricter monitoring policies and return-to-office mandates.

Varunram Ganesh, then head of growth at payroll platform Warp, argued that incidents like the Parekh controversy could damage trust in remote hiring practices altogether.

“Classic case of one guy exploiting a high-trust society, which leads to downfall of all the others around him,” Ganesh wrote on X.

Overemployed workers risk getting fired

A recent story shared on Reddit and later covered by Yahoo News demonstrated just how quickly overemployment can unravel.

A worker managing three remote jobs was reportedly fired from all three positions within a single day after one employer discovered discrepancies on LinkedIn and alerted the others.

“I never expected to be caught,” he lamented, going on to direct a frustrated expletive at LinkedIn.

Burnout remains a major risk

Beyond the professional risks, burnout is another major consequence.

Parekh himself told the tech show TBPN, “No one really likes to work 140 hours a week. I had to do it out of necessity.”

A Monster survey found that 31% of polyworkers believe multiple jobs negatively affect their productivity, while 26% reported concerns about mental health impacts.

“OE is a trap, guys,” warned another Redditor. “You’ll burn out eventually, but the paychecks are too good to quit.”

Some employers may be tempted to respond to overemployment with increased surveillance software and stricter return-to-office policies. But experts believe the solution may lie in addressing the economic root of the trend, as the practice is often a direct symptom of a workforce that feels undervalued and underpaid.

As long as workers feel underpaid, financially vulnerable, or replaceable, many will continue seeking additional income streams regardless of employer policies.

“Employers can’t necessarily stop it, but they can put guardrails around it,” said Salemi from Monster. “It’s a good idea to be proactive to set up policies and a framework.”

Salemi argued employers should focus on improving compensation, career development opportunities, and retention incentives instead of relying solely on monitoring employees. She further said that if employers couldn’t offer outright raises yet, they could provide quarterly bonuses or incremental increases to match inflation.4

Ultimately, overemployment may be less a story about worker dishonesty and more a reflection of declining trust between employees and employers in the modern economy.