A word that did not exist before the pandemic now describes holding two full-time jobs at once.
The word "overemployment" entered popular usage around 2021, coined in the context of the remote work expansion that followed the pandemic. It describes the practice of holding two or more full-time salaried jobs simultaneously, typically without either employer's knowledge.1
The term gained traction through an anonymous website, Overemployed.com, launched in 2021, which offered practical advice on managing multiple remote positions. Users adopted shorthand like "OE" for overemployment, "J1" and "J2" for their first and second jobs, and "HPW" for hours worked per week.2
A 2023 survey by ResumeBuilder found that 36 percent of 1,272 remote workers polled said they held at least two full-time jobs, with the majority earning six figures across their combined positions.3 The reliability of this figure is uncertain, given the secrecy surrounding the practice, but the number suggests the phenomenon is more than anecdotal.
The practice is distinct from traditional moonlighting, in which a worker takes a second job during off-hours. Overemployed workers occupy two positions during overlapping work hours, managing separate laptops, separate Slack channels, and separate meeting schedules from the same home office.4
Brianna Caza, a management professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, has observed that overemployment reflects both financial motivation and a broader skepticism of employer loyalty. "I definitely see that as being really similar to this idea of quiet quitting," she told Marketplace in 2023.5 The word itself carries no moral weight. It simply names a behavior that the previous vocabulary of employment did not anticipate.