Working Two Jobs at the Same Time |
11 Comments |
CNN has an article that I find extremely interesting… some employees are working two jobs at the same time. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. People are so used to multitasking nowadays that it’s hard to imagine people not working two jobs at the same time. I’m not much different. A quick look at my browser shows that I have 23 Firefox tabs open at this moment. That’s probably about the average for me.
I know at least two people who are working three jobs now. They have a full-time job that I suspect is near the six-figures and the nature of the work leads to downtime that can be used for the other two jobs. Is it ethical? That’s a tough call. What if I told you that their employers say that they are more than just getting their job done - they are excelling? That is the case with the two individuals that I’m thinking of. Their other two jobs aren’t exactly bringing in chump change either. I know that they are making them a combined two thousand dollars or more a month.
I’ve never been a big of fan of paying for someone’s time at a flat rate. If one can do the same job faster or more efficient than someone else then that person deserves the same amount of pay - regardless of whether they can do it very quickly or not.
I feel stuck in the middle of this issue. I see three things that I can’t quite resolve in my head:
- I think everyone should be looking to diversify their income streams. We don’t have the benefit of pensions, and some of us may be justified in assume no income from Social Security. Your current job doesn’t necessarily have to have any loyalty to you, but just their bottom line and their shareholders. People can develop these in their spare time, but let’s look at #2 and #3
- I can’t say that it’s ethical to agree to give your time to another company and then work another job during that time. I see the problem being that we don’t have a better metric for measuring “work performed.” Time might be better than anything else as it’s quantifiable, but it’s surely not a standard measure for all people.
- There are the cases of start-up companies that have a culture of effectively making you work excessive overtime with no guaranteed pay. You may get stock options, but these are not necessarily worth anything (and you usually give up other benefits like 401k matching to get them). If you have such a job, it’s going to be difficult or impossible to build other income streams.
As you can tell, I’m all over the place in this article. Perhaps some kind readers will have some insightful comments that will help put my Humpty Dumpty mind back together on this topic?
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This post deals with:Alternative Income, full time job, income streams, loyalty, pensions, social security
... and focuses on:Career
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October 1st, 2008 at 9:28 am
Weird, people can work three jobs and remain sane?
October 1st, 2008 at 10:16 am
Actually sanity is not an adjective that I’d apply to either person. I think they’d be the first to say that’s a stretch.
October 1st, 2008 at 12:20 pm
This dilemma troubles me as well. I’ve come to call it the Productivity Paradox, which I blogged about a while back. (http://www.richerbytheday.com/2008/04/the-productivity-paradox.html)
The paradox can be stated as follows: Being more productive, which should earn you more free time, actually gets you more work and less free time.
It’s a difficult balance between meeting employer expectations and maximizing productivity. As you said, your friends are exceeding expectations yet doing so in less than expected time. To me, working a second income stream from the office is unethical, but leaving early (once work is completed to your employers satisfaction) to pursue other interests is ok.
October 2nd, 2008 at 2:52 am
Getting paid by a company for your time and then using that time for a side business is unethical, no matter how you slice it. If a manager brings you into an office and says, “Sorry Chuck, we gotta let you go. It’s come to our attention that you’ve been working a few hours a day on your side business while at work.”
What could you say to defend yourself? “But I still get my work done”??
Not likely, you would have to just say, “You got me” and move on.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:04 am
I agree with Writer’s Coin above. I also know that I could not manage to work multiple jobs even when my work is slow I would still feel guilty for not giving my primary employer first priority for focus.
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I read, write, and comment on Blogs during work when it’s not busy. I don’t see the problem, you just need to decide if the risk is worth the reward. We’re all trying to get ahead in life - I don’t see anything wrong with it unless you’re lying to your main employer or pushing completion times back.
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:41 am
I read the same article and had mixed feelings about it as well. In most jobs there is always something else that can be done during down time, in which case, using time that could be used to benefit the company could be unethical.
In other jobs (such as firefighting or any other job that requires you to be on call or present for emergencies) it isn’t as big an issue (after you have completed your required work).
Should it be allowed? If your current employer would have a problem with it, then you shouldn’t do it. If your employer is cool with it (as the example of the graphics designer), then it’s cool.
October 5th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Its called time card theft here in Canada and it is very much grounds for dismissal. If you work at a job that pays by the hour then you’re expected to work exclusively for them during that time.
I would suggest people find jobs that don’t pay by that model if you’re not happy with it. When I worked contract I often times billed clients simultaneously, but never when I worked as a salary employee.
October 5th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
It’s the same here (time card theft as grounds for dismissal). Unfortunately, there are almost no jobs that pay by any other model. You can contract, but you have to then find your own health insurance and then work for finding your next job.
October 6th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I work on my side business during downtime at my day job. I don’t feel bad for doing so…. I work hard at my dayjob and make sure it is my main focus. It does represent the bulk of my income at the time. If that situation changes, perhaps my focus might shift.. hard to say.
For now, if I’m slammed with work, then my side business waits. If I’m not overwhelmed, then I find some time. If i don’t look out for myself and diversify, I might end up in some serious financial trouble.
Then again…. I’m on a salary / bonus pay plan. If I was hourly, I would probably feel differently. I haven’t worked a 40 hour week in so many years I can’t remember.
October 7th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
mmm… didn’t expect to see these kind of feedback on this topic. All this while, in my opinion, as long as you don’t do anything that has conflict of interest with your primary job, then, it should be all right.
Good article, Lazy Man!
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