Наталя Хандусенко Work 26 September 2025, 09:00

“At the interview stage, I always said that they would not be the only ones in my life.” Stories of Ukrainian IT professionals who managed to combine up to 4 jobs at the same time

What is it like to have several additional jobs in addition to your main full-time job, and at the same time study or do freelance work, or even both at the same time? We talked to IT specialists from Ukraine who, at different times in their careers, combined up to 4 jobs at the same time. Some found additional work on their own or were even offered it by the company where they already worked, while others were looking for part-time work purposefully.

For reference

According to DOU data, 27% of Ukrainian IT specialists have an additional job in addition to their main one.

71% of CTOs combine management functions with development, DevOps, PM, business intelligence, or other work. Architects and Engineering Leads often work as developers or DevOps. Engineering Managers — as developers, tech leads, PMs, or Delivery Managers.

Among technical specialists, QA is the least common (only 16%, mostly another specialization in testing). Among non-technical specialists, Customer Support specialists (only 8%).

But employers don't really encourage IT professionals to work on multiple projects at the same time, unless they're internal companies.

For example, Volodymyr Lobov, Talent Fulfilment Manager at Ciklum, says that, of course, specialists can be interested in external projects, but these are rather the exceptions. “Such situations are checked by our Compliance department to make sure there is no conflict of interest and a clear understanding of all the terms of cooperation. If the client requires exclusivity, these moments are agreed with the specialist before the start of work on the project to avoid misunderstandings,” he says.

According to him, more often, if conditions allow, Ciklum specialists can simultaneously participate in several internal projects.

"Having had 2-4 jobs during 2007-2022, I only now felt what it was like to just lie in bed"

From 2007 until the full-scale invasion, UX/UI Designer Yuriy Fedorchuk constantly worked 2-4 jobs at the same time for the sake of his family and children. In almost all cases, employers, colleagues and acquaintances knew about it. Even once the company's Project Manager himself offered another job.

Yuriy's first part-time job was an order to create a website in 2007. At the time, he was 21 years old, studying at university in absentia, and working as a computer maintenance engineer at a garment factory. For the order, he received 2.5 times more than his salary at the factory.

Since then, Yuriy has regularly combined several jobs at once — web design as a part-time job with other main jobs: first with teaching at a college, then in 2014, he and his brother started their own advertising firm , and then with work as an engineer at an educational institution, where he worked in the office part-time.

Around 2018, Yuriy started working only in web design when a company on robota.ua wrote to him and offered him a salary higher than what he was earning from three jobs at once. He accepted the offer, but did not leave his job as an engineer and continued to take freelance orders.

Over time, another job was added to this list of employment, offered by the Project Manager of the company where Yuriy started working. Thus, the designer combined work in two companies, an engineer at an educational institution, and freelance orders.

When asked if he has experienced professional burnout over the years, the IT worker says: "Burnout? What is it? When you have responsibility for a family and children, what kind of burnout is that? I'm not 18-25 years old, I kept thinking in my head that I had to do it and that's it. If not me, then no one else."

In February 2022, Yuriy left both companies because they were connected to the aggressor country. But that same month he was able to find a new job, where he still works today. The salary exceeds all previous ones combined, so he no longer plans to combine it with other jobs.

I just now felt what it's like to just lie in bed, look at your phone, because you can't go anywhere to rest (because of the war). But for me, that's enough, the main thing is a good sleep, peace, and when I know that my children are with me.

Yuriy is currently managing several projects at the company at the same time, and he likes it. He says that this way, “you don’t focus on one thing and it doesn’t get boring.”

From his own experience, Yuriy advises finding one job with a good salary rather than having several.

"If you're not ready, it's better not to even think about it. It's better to find one good job than to be scattered across several. You definitely won't be able to handle it all (at the pace I was working, it's definitely unlikely)."

"I've never looked for a job in the last 10 years, work has come to me by itself"

Frontend Team Lead Tusko Trush has been combining 2-4 jobs, both outsourced and in product companies and startups, since 2017. As in Yuriy's case, all employers knew that he had several projects.

At the interview stage, I always told them that they would not be alone in my life.

Tusko always had one main job with a steady income, and additional ones were hourly or project jobs.

So, in 2016, his main job was at the website development and support company Arsmoon, where he was a co-founder and also combined the positions of lead, developer, and manager.

The following year, 2 additional jobs appeared. The first was the Ukrainian startup MyLab, where he held the position of Senior Dev and was the only Frontend developer. The second was TerraLab, where he still works to this day.

In 2019, he got his fourth job - AvsTrade, where he served as Team Lead. In 2020, he also worked as a Senior Dev at JetSolutions.

Tusko completed work on all of these projects, except for TerraLab, in 2022-2023.

Currently, Tusko works in 2 jobs simultaneously: TerraLab since 2017, where he performs the role of Senior Dev, and ArtLabs Europe OÜ as Team lead since 2023. In addition, he maintains old client sites on Wordpress, and also has a hosting reselling account as passive income.

Since he started combining several jobs at the same time, Tusko has always tried to stick to a 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. work schedule, but at the same time he was flexible. Therefore, before Covid and the war, he could afford to work from seas, mountains, and travel.

The developer is actively involved in sports, mostly running, and also enjoys hiking. Perhaps that's why the IT professional says that for him there is no such thing as burnout.

Tusko advises those who combine several jobs at the same time to engage in sports, and also advises purchasing a desk with an adjustable surface height, which allows you to work while sitting and standing.

"I received 2 offers at once, part-time and full-time, and I accepted both."

Compared to Yuri and Tusk, who have been juggling up to 4 jobs at once for many years, Python Software Engineer Vladyslav Bashtannyk has little experience. He started working at 2 jobs in January 2025: full-time as a Backend Developer at the outsourcing company SoftServe and part-time as a Scraping Expert-AI Engineer at the product company SPsoft.

He immediately told his management that he had two jobs. Everyone reacted normally.

Part-time takes about a third of the time of the main job. In addition, there are no regular meetings, only when the need arises, which also does not interfere with full-time work.

On the negative side, the IT worker experienced worsening vision, and there was less time for rest. But to recover and stay in shape, Vladyslav engages in physical activities, spends time in nature, and also practices information detox.

Aitivets advises taking only part-time work as an additional job, but no more.

If you are serious about your work, you can consider taking a part-time job, but not more than one, and in no case full-time.

"To maintain work-life balance, only light part-time is suitable. Don't forget that urgent situations can occur in all jobs at the same time, and this is very stressful," says Vladislav.

"I had to sit until night, but I was mentally prepared"

A Mobile Flutter Developer said on the condition of anonymity that for over a year, starting in 2023, he combined 2 full-time jobs, freelance work, and also completed his master's degree.

At that time, the IT guy was on a bench that lasted longer than planned, so he had financial difficulties. When he informed his management about the new job, they were understanding. “When asked if he would pull out 2 jobs, he said, ‘it will be clear from my performance.’” But his colleagues didn’t know about it, although they didn’t ask.

"I was a developer working two full-time jobs at once. The main one was outsourced, the second was a product company. I managed to combine them quite successfully," says the developer.

To avoid getting confused in tasks, he started separate notebooks for each job. He also reduced the time for snacks and conversations — calls became shorter and less frequent, and almost all communication switched to text format. In addition, the meeting times at both jobs almost never coincided, they were all at different times — he was lucky with that, the IT guy believes.

It was especially difficult during the sessions and tests. There was almost no rest then. "I had to sit until night, but I was mentally ready. 6 hours of sleep was enough to recover. Sports helped a lot in this regard. Without physical exertion it would have been harder."

The developer currently works at one job. He left his second job almost 2 years ago due to workload outside of work.

According to the IT expert, it is worth taking on an additional job when there is an urgent need for it, for example, financially. But you need to be prepared for overload.

A 30-year-old IT professional works 3 jobs and earns $368,000 a year. He feels no guilt towards his employers and plans to take 2 more jobs.

A man from Aitivka who was fired 4 times in 4 years decided to work two jobs at once. Now he earns $280,000 and has come up with his own strategy for avoiding stress

A 23-year-old software engineer has a full-time job and 5 projects of his own. How does he manage to combine it all?

A 50-year-old IT professional worked 9 jobs at the same time and earned over $500,000 in 2024. How did he do it?