Go read this story of tech workers secretly working multiple jobs remotely

For journalists and others in the creative and technical fields, having a sideline or self-employment is extremely common. In addition to a day job, an editor, for example, may write piecework articles for other publications that are not competitors of their primary employer, and usually (ideally) with explicit approval or tacit agreement of his employer. Some people do it for the extra income they need, others like the job.

And according to a story in The Wall Street Journal, a new website provides guidance for tech workers who want to earn two full-time paychecks while working remotely, giving a half effort to one (or both) and not letting the company know. one of the employers of the other. the WSJ describes the scenario:

Alone in their home office, they switch between two laptops. They play “Tetris” with their calendars, trying to avoid endless meetings. Sometimes they log into two meetings at the same time. They use paid time off – in some cases, unlimited – to juggle the occasional big projects or start a new gig. Many say they don’t work more than 40 hours a week for the two jobs combined. They do not apologize for taking advantage of a system that they feel they have taken advantage of.

Workers who spoke to WSJ (anonymously) seem to go to great lengths to work simultaneously for two companies; to keep schedules extremely organized, to juggle overlapping Zoom calls and project deadlines. And while it is not necessarily illegal to work for more than one company, the WSJ reports, such provisions may conflict with employment contracts.

There is no doubt that many employers are reaping what they have sown with workers from all walks of life; in addition to a lack of job security and meager paychecks, workers face a pandemic that has turned family and work lives upside down for everyone. What bothered me about this article was how some of the workers talked about playing with the system by lying about valid reasons why someone would need housing from their employer: they use their unlimited PTO on a month off and cite “COVID-19 exhaustion,” or avoid double-booked meetings by taking “an imaginary call from a child’s school.”

Go read this very interesting WSJ article on what it’s like to juggle remote jobs, and how people claim to get away with it.