5 tech industry employees who earned about $500,000 juggling remote work spoke about the IT specialties that are best suited for the so-called «overwork».
5 tech industry employees who earned about $500,000 juggling remote work spoke about the IT specialties that are best suited for the so-called «overwork».
Tom Wedding worked in several remote marketing jobs until last year, when he founded LVRGD, a company that helps people find remote work and outsource it, charging between $3,000 and $5,000. Wedding told Business Insider that some of his clients are looking to juggle multiple jobs at once.
The best roles for overworked workers, he says, involve minimal meetings, low communication requirements, and repetitive tasks that can be done independently, such as software development, IT, and technical support. He adds that certain roles in marketing, sales, and creative support, such as video editing and graphic design, may also be suitable.
Other IT professionals, who spoke to the publication on condition of anonymity, note that working multiple jobs without an employer’s permission can have career consequences and lead to professional burnout. But many of them noted that the financial benefits usually outweigh the disadvantages and risks.
In 2023, one of them, using the alias «Adam,» earned about $170,000 secretly working two remote jobs as a security risk specialist. It helped him pay off more than $100,000 in student loan debt, and he says he continues to juggle two full-time jobs.
Based on his experience in the tech industry, Adam believes that three categories of jobs are well-suited for juggling work: software engineers, data analysts, and third-party risk analysts—which is where he works. These roles, he says, are often remote, involve working independently, have reasonable deadlines, and manageable communication requirements.
Another overworked employee, «Kelly,» who plans to make nearly $300,000 this year while secretly working two full-time remote engineering jobs, says being a manager helps, especially with project management and software quality assurance.
Another IT guy, «Harrison,» has six full-time remote jobs and a team of seven to help him. He works as a quality assurance specialist in the IT sector and estimates he will make about $800,000 this year.
He says roles related to automated testing can be ideal for overworked workers because tests often take time to run, giving employees the opportunity to focus on other tasks. Regardless of the role, he says, it’s important to find a job with relatively few meetings.
For «George,» who secretly works two remote IT jobs in the financial industry and earns about $250,000 a year, the company, and sector are as important as the job title when assessing whether a role is suitable for juggling work.
«I think you need to find the right industry where the requirements for a specific employee role are lower,» he says.
Thus, most overworked IT professionals agree that the easiest way to juggle software engineering, data analysis, and sales is to use AI tools that save time on writing letters and creating schedules.
Earlier, a 30-year-old American who works three IT jobs said he doesn’t feel guilty about it because he could be fired at any time. To increase his annual income of $368,000, he plans to find two more part-time jobs.
Last year, Patrick Singe, co-founder and CEO of Metrickal, a business process outsourcing and remote recruiting company, discovered that one of his employees was working another job at the same time. He believes the employee acted unethically.
