How to two-time your employer: A tech worker’s guide

Two work laptops, two work calendars, two bosses and two pay cheques. So far, neither of Matt’s employers is any the wiser. The tech worker (who, for obvious reasons, asked The Economist not to use his real name) meets deadlines and does what is requested, though not more. He is not the only one.

People working several jobs is nothing new. Low earners have long had to juggle shifts to make ends meet. At the other end of the pay scale, directors often sit on a few corporate boards. According to America’s Bureau of Labour Statistics, at any given point in the past 30 years, between 4 per cent and 6.5 per cent of the American workforce was working more than one job. Estimates from the Census Bureau put that share even higher, going from 6.8 per cent in 1996 to 7.8 per cent in 2018.