You've Heard of Quiet Quitting. What About 'Overemployed'?

This year's buzzword about the workplace is "quiet quitting"—generally described as workers deciding to do the bare minimum for their employers. But the CBC and Sidekick explore a trend that's close to the polar opposite in terms of work ethic. It involves people working two jobs, often full-time and often without either boss knowing. The trick, obviously, is being able to work from home. Details:

• A name: Adherents refer to the extra-job lifestyle as "overemployed." A website of that name is the main forum, and there's also a vibrant Reddit thread about it.

• Example: Both stories interview practitioners. "Mary" tells the CBC she has one full-time job in finance and another in accounting, while her engineer husband has two in his field. They doubled their household income to $300,000, and neither has informed their bosses of the extra work. They each average 12 to 14 hours a day.
• Example II: Sidekick interviews Benjamin Ryle, a computer engineer, who works for Nvidia and the rehab company Impulse Wellness, and both employers are aware. He totals about 65 hours a week and pulls in six figures. "People without a ton of external responsibilities [like myself] can automate part of the job [in the IT field] and optimize another part of it," he says.
• Dangers: Those who double-dip need to read any work contracts to make sure they're not violating policies, particularly in regard to conflicts of interests with rival companies, an employment lawyer tells the CBC. Sometimes, managerial positions have a "full-time and attention" clause that would bar second jobs.
• Credo: Sidekick notes that some choose to disregard any such worries, and the Overemployed website has advice for switching between jobs on the down-low. Writes Sabrina Sanchez: "The party line is this: No single employer owns their time, and no one company will be their only source of revenue, noncompete agreements be damned."'
• Quiet quitting: In regard to the larger trend of quiet quitting, much confusion exists about its precise meaning, notes NPR as it takes a broad look. It includes a complaint from Arianna Huffington, who says quiet quitters probably need to find better, more satisfying work. "Quiet quitting isn't just about quitting on a job, it's a step toward quitting on life," she says. The story also collects suggestions for new names, including "reverse hustle" and "workforce disassociation."

(More work stories.)