A Mother Earned $250,000 by Working Two Remote Jobs

 

A Mother Earned $250,000 by Working Two Remote Jobs

A Wisconsin mother of three who earned $250,000 by working two remote jobs said it allowed her husband to quit a stressful job and become a stay-at-home dad.

A Wisconsin woman earned $250,000 in 2021 by secretly working two jobs.

The extra money allowed her husband to take a break from work and significantly boosted his savings.

She shared why she finally gave up "excess unemployment" after 18 months.

In 2020, Lisa earned nearly $110,000 working remotely in a manufacturing role at the company but wanted her pay at most.

Lisa, who is in her 40s and lives in Wisconsin, emailed Business Insider to say that she got a job offer for a hybrid role in the same industry that pays roughly $150,000 a year, but she was hoping for more money.

Then, her husband had an idea: What if she tried to juggle both jobs simultaneously?

For 18 months between 2020 and the end of 2021, Lisa secretly worked a fully remote job and a second hybrid job. In 2021, according to documents seen by BI, she made nearly $250,000 across her two full-time jobs.

Lisa said the extra income has greatly boosted her family's finances. She and her husband are confident they can pay for their three children's college educations, various extracurricular programs, and future family vacations. Working two jobs also enabled her husband to take a much-needed break from the workforce and focus on caring for their children.

"Working both jobs gave us the freedom to finally let my husband leave his job, which was so stressful that we feared it would take years off his life," Lisa, who identifies herself, told BI. Because of her fear of professional repercussions. "It gave us a financial cushion that we otherwise wouldn't have had."

Lisa is among the Americans who secretly juggle multiple jobs to supplement their income. BI interviewed nearly 20 "overemployed" people, many working in IT and tech industries, who used the extra money to pay off debt, save money for retirement, and afford expensive vacations and weight-loss medications. While some companies may agree to their employees having a second job, doing so without approval could have negative repercussions.

As a woman, Lisa appears unique in the overwork community, as most charlatans BI encounters are men. This may be because it is less common for women to work in IT and technology. Some workers told BI that the prevalence of remote roles in these fields — and the flexibility these jobs can offer — makes them well-suited for redundancy.

It is also possible that some women - many of whom still bear most household and childcare responsibilities - need more time to pursue a second career. In Lisa's case, her husband's two-month hiatus from work made it easier for her to juggle both roles.

She shared how she balanced both careers and why she let go of redundancy.

The looming return-to-office mandate has made redundancy look unsustainable.

Lisa said having her husband home when he wasn't working was a "huge bonus," especially since their children were enrolled in distance learning for the entire 2020 to 2021 school year due to the pandemic. He was able to slowly return to the workforce, doing part-time work before accepting full-time employment.

Lisa said three full-time incomes for over a year transformed the family finances.

When she worked from home, Lisa didn't have much trouble juggling the two jobs—she said she worked roughly 40 to 50 hours a week at both jobs.

She said that when she had to enter the office for her hybrid role, she brought her two work laptops, which looked conveniently identical. She generally worked from a cubicle office but would go to a private room when she moved to her second job.

"There were moments when I thought I was going to fail, but I got positive reviews from both jobs while I was there," she added.

Lisa said she didn't feel guilty about keeping her jobs a secret from her employers, partly because she believed many companies were greedy and prioritized profits over workers.

"I felt like I was sticking it to the man when I could," she said.

But towards the end of 2021, Lisa wondered how long she could keep this up. When pandemic conditions eased, I thought my fully remote employer would focus on a hybrid work schedule — and managing two hybrid jobs seemed impossible.

So, she decided to try to get ahead of things.

Lisa said she was able to get a job offer for a role that pays about $175,000 a year and requires in-person work. The job paid less than the approximately $250,000 she was earning through her work.

There were two jobs, but more than either one was paid individually. In early 2022, she decided to take the job – and bid farewell to her role.

"It was a good career move at a time when I thought remote work was going away," she said.

While some companies have called on employees to return to their offices, others have continued fully remote work arrangements. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that in April, about 22% of American workers aged 16 and overworked from home at least some of the time, and 10% did so all the time. While some overworked workers have had to adjust their plans due to return-to-office mandates, others still take things leisurely.

Lisa said she would consider job matching again if she could find two fully remote jobs that fulfilled most of her requirements. Among her biggest fears will be burnout.

"Doing two jobs that need me 100% seems so stressful, and I would much rather do a job that values ​​me all the way and pays me that way," she said.