The community was founded by 37-year-old Isaac, a tech worker in the US, in April, when he launched overemployed.com: a site with articles extolling the benefits of having more than one full-time job and offering advice on everything from filing US tax returns to keeping managers’ expectations low. There’s also a subreddit forum, r/overemployed, and Discord (an instant-messaging platform where users can voice chat with members of different communities, called “servers”) group boasting 6,500 members, where users share experiences anonymously.

Isaac started looking for other jobs after hearing about lay-offs in his company. After successfully landing a new job while holding down his primary occupation, he realised he could do both – and raise his salary from $160,000 (£120,000) to a combined $340,000, he claims. “Doing two remote jobs at once was already happening; it was the biggest open secret out there in tech,” says Isaac, who has been overemployed for more than a year now. “The pandemic just accelerated the trend, and made the environment more friendly to not just tech.”…

Others say they feel guilty about deceiving their bosses. Yet there is a widespread feeling among overemployed workers that provided they meet employers’ expectations, they have no reason for misgivings. “I want my family to live comfortably, and I’m not exactly gambling or boozing. If both companies are happy with my performance, why should I feel guilty?” wrote one overemployed worker on Discord. Others are quick to cite the misplaced loyalty workers may have towards their employers. As another worker wrote on Discord: “They do not feel bad about replacing you in a second.”