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Наталя ХандусенкоWork
5 August 2025, 11:58
2025-08-05
IT specialist developed a strategy to work 6 jobs at once, which fell apart partly because of DOGE. But a few months later he is back on track to $1 million in annual earnings
A Gen X IT professional planned to earn $800,000 this year by working 6 jobs simultaneously. To cope with the workload, he hired freelancers from all over the world. But his carefully crafted strategy collapsed after the IT professional lost 4 jobs. However, the IT professional did not give up and set an even more ambitious goal for himself - to earn almost $1 million.
A Gen X IT professional planned to earn $800,000 this year by working 6 jobs simultaneously. To cope with the workload, he hired freelancers from all over the world. But his carefully crafted strategy collapsed after the IT professional lost 4 jobs. However, the IT professional did not give up and set an even more ambitious goal for himself - to earn almost $1 million.
The sudden dismissal forced the IT man to postpone buying a car and rethink how much he could financially support his children.
"Three-quarters of my income was gone — it really hit me," Harrison told Business Insider in an interview that did not reveal the man's real name.
In the past 2 months, Harrison has managed to land 3 new jobs. He is now on track to earn $900,000 annually, combining contract roles and even one full-time position in the office.
He lives abroad most of the year, but uses a VPN to work in the U.S. About a third of his income goes to the four employees who help him with his work tasks, but he estimates he has the potential to make more than $500,000 a year. He also plans to continue filing to insure against future layoffs.
"I don't want to be in that situation again. If I can handle it and make it work, I'll keep looking," the IT guy says.
Before the layoffs, Harrison spent most of his days attending meetings and reviewing the work of his employees, who were based in the U.S., Canada, India and Pakistan. His outsourcing operation was made possible by software tools like Zoom, TeamViewer and UltraViewer, which allowed his team to access his work computers remotely.
Harrison doesn't know why some of his positions were cut, but he suspects two of them were related to state budget constraints related to the Department of Government Efficiency — or DOGE. He said one contract position on a government project ended without notice, and another was ultimately canceled due to approval delays at a government agency that has recently undergone significant staffing cuts.
A third position was cut when the company decided to transfer his contractual duties to full-time employees, and a fourth—a full-time position he considered particularly secure—was eliminated during a company reorganization.
In addition to state budget cuts, Harrison pointed to organizational restructuring, economic uncertainty and the rise of artificial intelligence as reasons why the hiring situation has become more difficult to predict.
At first, finding a job was difficult. Harrison was sending out 100, 150 resumes a day, but with almost no results. Then he brought AI tools into the process: LazyApply to send applications and Simplify to tailor his resume to specific positions.
After weeks of setbacks, Harrison did what would have been almost unthinkable just a few months ago. He accepted an offer that sometimes required him to work from the office. About a month after losing four positions, he landed three new ones, and recently, he says, he landed a sixth through a personal connection.
Working from the office part-time became a problem for his other jobs, so he had to rely more on his employees.
Now that he's back to six jobs, Harrison said he's considered quitting his office job. But after losing so many roles so quickly, he's hesitant to take any drastic steps.
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