• A millennial began looking for a remote job in response to his company’s return-to-office plans.
• He’s juggling two remote roles, earning $250,000 annually, and is considering retiring by age 50.
• He said working two remote jobs can be stressful at times, but it is worth it.

George was worried his employer would demand he return to the office, so he executed a backup plan: start secretly working a second remote job.

In 2022, George was working remotely in an IT role in the finance industry. When his company began discussing return-to-office plans, he balked and reached out to an IT recruiting firm in the hopes it could help him find a new remote role. Shortly after, he landed an offer for a remote position that was similar to his current job.

But with the specifics of his original employer’s return-to-office policy unclear, he said he was on the fence about leaving his current role. George said the recruiter he’d been working with convinced him to take an unconventional path — and juggle both roles simultaneously.

“I ultimately decided to try it since I could easily just drop one if it was too much,” said George, whose identity was verified by Business Insider but asked to use a pseudonym due to fear of professional repercussions.

It’s been more than two years since George started his second remote gig. He’s earning about $250,000 a year — roughly double his prior income — and said he typically doesn’t work more than 45 hours a week. George said the extra income from “overemployment“ has allowed him and his wife to make extra mortgage payments and build a multimillion-dollar nest egg, adding that he’s considering retiring at age 50.

He said his wife sometimes wishes he would scale back to one job temporarily to reduce his stress, but that he has no current plans to do so.

“Despite the extra stress, I can’t imagine going back to single employment permanently out of choice,” he said.

George, who’s 39 and based in the southeast, is among the Americans who have worked multiple remote jobs on the sly to supplement their incomes. Over the past two years, BI has interviewed more than two dozen overemployed workers who’ve used their extra earnings to travel the world and pay off debt. To be sure, holding multiple jobs without employer approval could have professional repercussions and lead to burnout. But many current and former job jugglers have told BI the financial perks outweigh the downsides and risks.

Job juggling can require lowering your expectations

At his original job, George said his team was classified as remote, but that over the past few years, some teams have been required to come into the office three days a week.

He still has some concerns that he could be required to return to the office, in part because he’s heard about other companies rolling out stricter RTO policies in recent months. George said he lives roughly 14 miles from the nearest office — an hourlong commute with traffic and about half an hour without. He’s less concerned about an in-office push from his second employer — which no longer has an office in his state — because he said its messaging to employees suggests it has permanently embraced remote work.

George said his overemployment situation is far from ideal because his jobs require a fair amount of work and meetings. This has made it difficult for him to excel at both roles, which is something he said he’s had to grapple with.

“Accepting that when you’re splitting your time you’re not always going to stand out as an overachiever at one place,” he said. “The goal goes from being great and climbing the ladder at one job to being good or decent in multiple roles.”

George added that consistent communication with his colleagues and bosses has been key, particularly when meetings are double-booked or he has to delay work for one job due to commitments at another.

“As long as the quality of work is good, timelines are reasonable, you’re honest about timeline delays, and people don’t mind working with you, people don’t really have a reason to go digging,” he said.

Looking ahead, George said he hopes to remain overemployed until he retires so he can boost his savings and protect himself in case of a potential layoff. He said he hopes to retire, travel, and eventually move abroad to reduce living expenses and help ensure that his retirement funds last.

George said he’s lucky enough to work in a field where the demand for workers exceeds supply — which has made it easier to land remote roles. But he said he knows these favorable conditions aren’t guaranteed.

“Who knows how long that will last so I’d rather take advantage while it’s available than wish I had later,” he said.

Are you working multiple remote jobs at the same time and willing to provide details about your pay and schedule? If so, reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.