Aussie with three full-time jobs exposes reality of ‘concerning’ work trend: ‘$300k per year’

As some Aussies struggle to make ends meet, others are making bank while working multiple full-time jobs. These aren’t little side hustles, we’re talking about stacking several 40-hour jobs on top of each other.

It’s called being over-employed (OE) and an Aussie worker with three full-time roles told Yahoo Finance it allowed him to pull in more than $300,000 per year. Steve*, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, typically works between 8am and 6pm, managing to cram all his tasks into the 10-hour window.

“I certainly don’t need the money necessarily, but it has meant I’ve been able to throw a serious amount of money into investments in the last two to three years,” he said.

“I am easily hundreds of thousands ahead, both from the extra income and the return on those additional investments.”

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Steve is one of the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who swap stories, advice and tips online on how to juggle the intense demands of multiple jobs.

He told Yahoo Finance all his roles are fully remote and in the HR/people and culture industries.

When asked why he wanted to branch into this realm, he said why not?

“My first role left me with an hour or two of work each day and the loose expectation to be available throughout the day,” he said.

Are you over-employed and want to tell your story? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com

“Initially I spent all that extra time at cafes with my work phone, or just browsing Twitter and doing nothing really of value. If I am going to be at my desk all day, I may as well keep myself engaged, learn some new skills, and add a few more dollars to the bank account.”

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The number of Aussies with a second job has been steadily increasing over the past few years.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics states there were 961,400 multiple job-holders in the country at the last count in June. That’s almost double the 530,300 multiple job-holders registered in 2002.

A recent Finder study found 32 per cent of Aussies – equivalent to 6.7 million people – felt financially pressured to look for a second job in 2024, with the cost-of-living crisis being one of the main drivers for pushing people to find extra cash.

‘Living on the edge’: Juggling work can be a minefield

Working multiple jobs can be stressful, or bring on feelings of guilt.

Imagine the issues arising from your one job and multiply it two, three, four or even five times.

“I’m afraid of how unstable working three jobs are. Each day is living on edge. I’m still off from my financial goals… Almost cried this morning. This is not stable but I really need the cash,” said one person.

Another added: “Received an email from our ethics department apartment about suspicion of previous OE last year. Not sure why or how this is coming up now but they’re asking me to fill out a survey asking when and how long I may have been OE. What do I do??!!”

“Do you ever feel guilt that your job could have gone to somebody else who desperately needed a one job?” asked a third.

However, there are others who make being over-employed work and proudly promote their lifestyle.

Some claim they’re working five or more full-time roles and are making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

One person in Latin America posted a photo of their five-laptop setup at home and said being OE has helped them pay off their student loans, and buy multiple cars and a property overseas.

“Work hard but play harder! Life is too short. These companies do not care about us,” they said.

Steve told Yahoo Finance it’s a fine art to manage all the expectations of each job.

“It’s as draining and intense as one very hectic role; it’s simply a set of tasks and responsibilities to manage, and like all things, it becomes much easier over time,” he said.

“The main challenge is managing multiple and overlapping meetings, so calendar management is absolutely crucial, and booking out frequent recurring ‘personal events’ like appointments, visits, drop off and pickups, and so on.”

He has lost count of the times he’s had conflicting meetings from different jobs. He “rarely” attends both, instead juggling a reschedule.

How could I make multiple jobs work?

Some workplaces have strict rules about working for competitors or having another job in the same industry. This means there sometimes has to be a level of deception to being over-employed.

American worker, James*, has three jobs in software engineering and told Yahoo Finance he’s earning an impressive $650,000 per year.

He said there can be major benefits if you strike the right balance.

“I am able to meet my financial goals while excelling at my jobs,” he explained.

“But I’m not just making extra money, I’m learning way more than I would otherwise and I can bring this experience with me to each job. Balancing the work isn’t so hard for me.

“I make sure never to be a blocker and communicate proactively. My managers like me and say I contribute more than average. I actually enjoy the extra work, but the additional meetings do suck.”

To go under the radar, James said to avoid roles that aren’t remote, have unpredictable meetings or a micromanaging boss.

Another OE worker advised it should never be seen as a “get rich quick scheme” because it takes “several trials, errors, and failures” to succeed.

They added that you should “master” your primary job before branching out and getting a second, and you have to be “at least mid-senior” to have a chance at getting a foot in the door at secondary jobs.

The Australian Taxation Office doesn’t have a problem with Aussies working multiple jobs “as long as the correct amount of tax is paid on both incomes”.

But you would need to check with your work contracts about whether you have clauses specifically ruling out having side hustles or additional employment.

‘Be invisible’: Unexpected downside to multiple jobs

One of the hardest aspects of the OE world is putting yourself out there to recruiters and other businesses while not attracting any attention at your current job.

In the world of LinkedIn, that can be extremely difficult as employers use the tool to check your career history.

People have suggested limiting your social media presence and using online tools that can remove you from search engines.

Steve explained that OE can limit your career progression because you can’t really make a name for yourself.

“You have to come to terms with not becoming an industry leader or anyone recognisable in your field, for sure,” he told Yahoo Finance.

Major warning about getting caught

Several people have been caught working multiple jobs and it didn’t go down well.

According to Chinese state-owned media, a woman spent three years managing 16 different corporate jobs despite not showing up for any of them.

The alleged wage fraud scheme netted her nearly $7 million, according to Xinmin.

Another worker in the US was working three different jobs at once, with their operation uncovered when the same IT system was used by two of the companies.

HR from the two jobs got in contact with each other and discovered he was working at a third job in the same industry.

“This was a great employee,” HR worker Sunny Lena said on TikTok.

“They did their work well, and we really wanted to keep them, but with the policies of the place that we were working at and with the type of data that we were working with, it was a huge conflict of interest, and we couldn’t have that happen.

“So we essentially told this employee you need to choose where you’re working.”

Patrick Synge, CEO of remote-recruitment company Metrickal, said in an op-ed that workers being over-employed is unethical.

He recently fired a staff member who became unresponsive and didn’t meet deadlines.

“I don’t think it’s fair to the rest of the team who have to cover up for someone else’s low performance,” he wrote for Entrepreneur.

“This is why keeping this employee of mine in the company wasn’t an option. He wasn’t fair and respectful to the team, and that’s something I can’t tolerate — his actions were just selfish.”

Steve told Yahoo Finance that he finds nothing wrong with working multiple jobs and said he wouldn’t be upset if he was found out.

“Then I am back to a single job, exactly where I was before, with more skills, money and experience than before. The worst possible case is simply being fired for a job I don’t need,” he said.

Both Steve and James said you shouldn’t aim for being over-employed if you can’t handle a large workload otherwise it will quickly show or you’ll be working all day and night.

Burnout is a major risk for the over-employed: ‘Concerning’

Sally McKibbin, a career expert at Indeed, is worried at the number of Aussies who are over-employing themselves.

While everyone’s circumstances are different, she said there’s a huge risk of burnout.

“It’s concerning to see so many workers borrowing time from primary employers to manage second jobs, as this is very obviously going to have a significant effect on business performance and workplace dynamics,” she said.

Indeed discovered that 93 per cent of white-collar workers with multiple full-time jobs do their side gig on their primary employer’s time, with 65 per cent doing it regularly.

An overwhelming number (nine in 10 respondents) said AI has been the game-changing factor in the OE world.

“The use of AI to manage multiple jobs highlights how technology is reshaping the workforce,” McKibbin said. “However, the toll on workers’ mental and physical health cannot be ignored.

“Balancing two full-time jobs — regardless of technology efficiencies — is pushing many to their limits.”

Thankfully, most of these over-employed workers aren’t operating in secret.

Nearly 80 per cent have told their boss about their side gig and a further 12 per cent said they planned on telling their manager soon.

They said they would only give up their second role if they could earn at least $51,500 more in their main job.

* Names have been changed to protect their identity.

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