The trend of being “overemployed,” where a person holds multiple full-time jobs, is gaining steam on a global scale.

The community gained widespread attention on July 2 after Suhail Doshi, founder of tech startups Playground and Mixpanel, took to X to call out an employee he had fired upon discovering they were working multiple full-time jobs.

“PSA: there’s a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He’s been preying on YC companies and more. Beware,” Doshi tweeted. “I fired this guy in his first week and told him to stop lying/scamming people. He hasn’t stopped a year later. No more excuses.”

While overemployment—or polyworking—surged during the pandemic’s remote work boom, the rise of AI-powered tools has made juggling multiple full-time jobs even easier by boosting workplace productivity. The r/overemployment subreddit, with over 430,000 members, provides a glimpse into a growing community of professionals united by a common goal: holding multiple jobs to achieve financial freedom.

In one instance, a Reddit user boasted about securing their fifth full-time job, which increased their daily income to over $3,000.

“I tell them up front that I’m a ‘consultant,’” the user wrote. “I won’t be at the all-hands meeting. I skip daily stand-up calls. They know how to reach me if I’m needed, but I keep distance from the organization. I’ll get a few tough things assigned in a sprint and solve them at some point over two weeks. They leave me alone.”

As for what they feel helps them keep landing high-paying, fully remote gigs, “I’m determined and vigilant,” they added. “Never letting a plate drop. Always checking emails and Teams throughout the day. Up early, working multiple time zones across the US.”

The subreddit, along with Doshi’s recent claims, highlights a growing trend: more workers are not only seeking but successfully managing multiple full-time jobs to maximize their income. Just over 5% of employed workers hold more than one job, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The ideal roles for overemployment tend to be low in meetings, senior enough to allow delegation, and based at large companies where individual employees are less noticeable. As for how to secure these roles in a tough job market where many are struggling to land even one, the Reddit user suggests bending ethical boundaries to make it happen.

“Interviews should be gamified,” the user wrote. “Lie, cheat, and steal. Use AI. Tech interviews are 80% an opportunity for some blowhard at the company to impress their skill on you. With AI, the walls of tech are coming down.”

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Klutch Sports Founder and LeBron James associate Rich Paul is fresh off the heels of releasing his MasterClass course “The Dealmaker’s Mindset” and is explaining why promotions should be earned and not expected.

“When you’re trying to get a salary bump, you shouldn’t feel entitled to it,” Paul told CNBC. “Look around and really be honest about how replaceable or irreplaceable you may be, and that has to come through the lens of doing great work [and] consistently raising that level of work ethic or [impact].”

Just because you do the job you were hired to do, or have been with a company for a certain amount of time, doesn’t qualify you for a raise, Paul says. Instead, the self-made sports mogul emphasizes the importance of being a self-starter with a willingness to learn and going above and beyond.

“The getting in early, leaving late, the not complaining, not being asked to do something, the proactive thinking” is what’ll add some digits to that paycheck, Paul said.

The head of sports at United Talent Agency says being a self-starter is what helped him launch Klutch Sports, the agency now representing stars like LeBron James and Odell Beckham Jr. After a chance meeting with James at an airport when he was 21, Paul threw himself into learning the ins and outs of the NBA.

He later joined Creative Artists Agency, working under James’s then-agent Leon Rose. By 2012, Paul had launched Klutch Sports, with James as his very first client.

“The only thing Rich received from me is an opportunity,” James wrote in the foreword of Paul’s book, “Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds.”

Now overseeing an entire company payroll, Paul urges those seeking a raise to focus on learning and expanding their “range within the workplace.” He emphasizes that promotions aren’t usually handed out; most people have to earn them by proving their value.

“Oftentimes, we look for what was given to us in kindergarten. You know, you do well and you have a piece of candy or a gold star on your paper,” he said. “It doesn’t work like that in the real world.”

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Reader’s Question:

Hello Fairygodmentor,
I want to make a lasting impact in my career and my community. How do I balance personal ambition with giving back?
– Building a Legacy

Dear Building a Legacy,

First of all, what a powerful question. The fact that you want to make a lasting impact in your career and your community already tells me you’re living in your purpose. 

I hear you loud and clear: How do you rise in your career without leaving your values behind?

You’re not alone in this balancing act. Quite a number of purpose-driven professionals, especially those of us who feel called to give back to our communities, struggle to find that sweet spot between personal ambition and servant leadership. But let me offer you this truth:  it doesn’t have to be an either-or situation. You can pursue your dreams and be a force for good, but it starts with clarity and intention.

Let’s use a bit of my RISE© framework to unpack this:

Reflect: Define your version of legacy.

It’s so easy to get caught up in what society tells us about impact. Making a huge impact doesn’t have to always be loud, public, or have the most viral hashtags. Legacy isn’t about doing all the things — it’s about doing the right things that align with the gifts and values you bring to this world. Tie it to your WHY. Ask yourself: What am I uniquely positioned to change? What brings me joy? What am I great at? Who can benefit from that? That’s where your legacy lives. Remember to tie it to your WHY to stay grounded.

Identify: Give from your zones of joy, genius, and justice.

Look for opportunities where your natural talents, passions, and desire for change align. Maybe you’re an incredible project manager — what if mentoring early-career professionals lights you up? Maybe your lived experience could help open doors for someone else. I love to lift while I climb. It’s like a legacy double dip. You grow as you’re helping others do the same. You don’t need a stage or a platform to give back — just intention and consistency.

Strategize: Protect your purpose and peace with boundaries

You know I keep it real, so I’m going to tell it like it is — burnout doesn’t serve anyone. You can’t pour from an empty cup, no matter how ambitious or generous you are. Try scheduling your giving back the same way you plan your career goals. Build “legacy time” into your calendar — maybe that’s one afternoon a month for mentoring or a quarterly volunteer project. That kind of structure ensures you show up fully for yourself and others.

Execute: Ask boldly, serve deeply.

In my book, Show Your Ask, I remind readers that asking is a form of advocacy — for yourself and for those you’re trying to uplift. Don’t be afraid to ask for resources, support, or collaboration. You don’t have to dim your light to help someone else shine. The brighter you shine, the more light you can reflect to others.

So, Building a Legacy, here’s your next assignment: You can chase your dreams without guilt. You can lead, grow, thrive, and serve others while protecting your peace. Your legacy is being written every day — in your decisions, your boundaries, your courage, and your heart. Remember you are your ancestors’ wildest dreams. Keep sharing your shine.

You got this!

Yours truly,

Your Fairygodmentor®

About Joyel Crawford:

Joyel Crawford is an award-winning career and leadership development professional and founder of Crawford Leadership Strategies, a consultancy that empowers results-driven leaders through coaching, training, and facilitation. She’s the best-selling author of Show Your Ask: Using Your Voice to Advocate for Yourself and Your Career.

Have a question for Your Fairygodmentor®?

Submit your career and leadership questions, whether it’s about navigating a micromanager, setting boundaries, negotiating for a raise, or handling burnout. Ask Your Fairygodmentor® today!

A new generation of accountants is helping low-income families secure millions in tax refunds through the IRS VITA program.

Fortune reported that more Gen Zers are choosing careers in finance and accounting as older CPAs near retirement. Many students are already stepping up by volunteering with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, which helps low-income taxpayers file for free and save on costly prep fees.

“Accounting is the science of the business world,” says Alana Kelley, a junior at Oregon State University studying accounting and biohealth science.

Kelley has helped dozens of families file their taxes for free this tax season through her school’s VITA program. Last year, more than 280 CSUN students helped over 9,000 low-income taxpayers secure nearly $11 million in tax refunds and $3.6 million in tax credits — while also saving them over $2 million in tax prep fees.

There are even Gen Z students outside of business majors — studying fields like computer science, public health, and psychology — who are eager to join the tax assistance program. The students work hard to help families in need, with some putting in long hours — working from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. — to help families navigate their returns and understand how much they’re owed or may need to pay.

The rise of Gen Z accountants signals a shift as the industry grapples with a talent shortage. Once considered one of America’s dullest jobs, the accounting field has seen 340,000 professionals leave in the past five years, with estimates suggesting that 75% of remaining accountants will retire in the next decade. However, Gen Z is recognizing the lucrative potential of a career in accounting.

“While accounting may have a certain image in the background among young people of being not as intriguing and exciting, once they actually engage in the practice and see how it plays out in a real world, it changes people’s mind and views,” said CSUN program’s current director, Rafael Efrat.

In addition to helping Americans save money, student volunteers are gaining valuable hands-on experience that prepares them to excel in their careers and land six-figure salaries upon graduation. Working with clients who might have complex tax situations offers student volunteers real-world exposure that boosts their confidence in the job.

“We throw the students into the water, essentially, and let them swim, and then students actually live up to the challenge,” Efrat said.

With more Gen Zers prioritizing job security over flexibility, accounting appears to be gaining traction as a promising career path.

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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is standing on business when it comes to “eliminating bureaucracy” by cutting out middle managers as a follow-up to mass layoffs that occurred in early 2025, Inc. reports.   

Jassy reiterated his plans to reduce managerial ranks in his annual letter to company shareholders. The objective is to make the online retail giant “operate like the world’s largest startup” to move faster, create a better customer experience, and improve the shopping experience. He is moving past Amazon’s past ways of relying on “owners.” 

He defines “owners as “really smart, motivated, inventive, ambitious people” who want to achieve goals by asking the question, “What would I do if I started this company and I was the majority owner?”

“Owners feel accountable,” Jassy said. 

“They care deeply about the quality and effectiveness of what they own, and view the company’s mission as their mission… That’s part of what our effort to increase the ratio of individual contributors versus managers is about.”

But what does that mean for some of Amazon’s lower-level or white-collar employees? 

By diminishing the number of managers, those in such positions will no longer need clearance before launching into action. Jassy feels it will remove “unneeded processes that get layered on that add little value.”

“Builders hate bureaucracy. It slows them down, frustrates them, and keeps them from doing what they came here to do,” he explained. “As leaders, we don’t always see the red tape buried deep in our organizations, but we can sure as heck eliminate it when we do.”

The new moves shouldn’t surprise stakeholders and employees. According to Fortune, in September 2024, the CEO announced he wanted to “increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% by the end of Q1 2025.” Amazon isn’t the only major corporation to initiate such moves. 

META CEO Mark Zuckerberg labeled “flattening” as a key part of a business’s restructuring in 2023. He claimed that asking middle managers to become individual contributors would assist in making the company’s information flow more efficient. And data shows this is what the incoming working generation — Gen Z – wants. A 2025 survey from recruitment company Robert Walters found close to 52% of Gen Z workers admitted that they would rather skip over being middle managers. 

Seventy-two percent said they would much rather take an “individual route to progression” over supervising, as they see how the concept results in intense burnout, as demonstrated by their bosses. 

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Ever since Donald Trump promised to slash diversity, equity and inclusion programs, anti-DEI slander has been on the rise, particularly in the workplace, where Black women are more likely to experience microaggressions. When a Black female nurse faced a passive-aggressive anti-DEI rant from a white coworker, she decided to respond with the facts. The woman, known as mykaela_elise on Instagram, shared her story on her platform. 

“On yesterday’s episode of white women white womening,”  mykeal_elise quipped in the Instagram reel, “I had an ignorant white woman tell me that I was more likely to get into a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) program than her. The ICU nurse said that her coworker believed this is because” they  love to hire diversity.” 

The audacious coworker then attempted to walk away,  but not before receiving a quick lesson from mykeal_elise. The Instagrammer told her coworker that white women benefit more from diversity and inclusion programs than Black women. 

The nurse and military vet pointed out statistics that show 57.5% of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) in the U.S. are white women, compared to 3.4% who are Black women.  

“Baby, if you’re not getting hired, it’s because you’re not qualified,” the nurse said in the video, which garnered over 3,000 comments. 

“If I’m not getting hired, it’s because I’m overqualified. Black people don’t have the option, especially Black women, to be mediocre and hired in highly coveted positions,” the medical professional said. 

White women have been the primary beneficiaries of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which were designed to help several marginalized groups, including religious minorities and veterans. According to a 2023 Forbes report, white women hold nearly 19% of all C-suite positions, compared to women of color, who have 4%.    

White women have disproportionately benefited from DEI programs. According to a 2024 study released by McKinsey, it would take 22 years for white women to achieve gender equality in the workplace, but 48 years for women of color. Yet, without DEI, it is unlikely that women of any race will experience this progression. Perhaps white women’s workplace microaggressions are misdirected. 

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I first wrote about this topic in Black Cosmopolitan almost ten years ago.  With the New York Times reporting that “as of early May 2025, approximately 260,000 federal workers had been fired, taken buyouts, or retired early,” it’s a great time to revisit this topic and provide readers with insights and options available in franchising that can not only replace that job but relieve you of the threat and fear of being laid off ever again. 

Being downsized or laid off puts thousands of people every year at a crossroads, trying to decide what their next steps will be. It feels abnormal not to get up and go to work every day, confident of a regular paycheck, especially if you’ve been in the same career or position for ten or more years.  While it may not feel like it, now is the perfect time to explore your options. That could include looking for another job, but perhaps it’s an opportunity to pursue something you’ve only dreamed about – becoming your own boss!

If buying a franchise seems daunting, try to view things through a different lens. Franchising provides numerous options that allow for the flexibility of working from home, solopreneurship, low start-up investment, and alignment with your skills and experience. Consider buying yourself a job that puts you in a place where you don’t have to report to anyone but are still able to do the work you love, with an entire support organization behind you. And who knows, while building the business, you may discover you have a passion for it, generating enough income to expand, eventually employing others, and becoming an inspiration to those who are at the same crossroads you once were at.

Perhaps you don’t want to continue doing the same thing, but in fact, learn something new, or there’s a different sector you’ve been interested in and afraid to pursue. One of the best parts of franchising is that in many cases, you don’t need additional education or certifications to be successful. The franchise trains and/or certifies you in all aspects of the business.

Here are just five franchise opportunities to consider when buying a job or a new career. To learn about more opportunities, visit NValuable Franchise Consulting, Inc. today and book a free consultation.

1.  STRATUS BUILDING SOLUTIONS

Stratus Building Solutions provides an affordable path into the fast-growing commercial cleaning industry — one that’s proven resilient even in economic downturns. Franchisees are equipped from the start with eco-friendly tools, branded marketing resources, and continuous support to help them scale. With unit growth of 73% over the past three years, the brand shows strong momentum, especially for entrepreneurs looking to start part-time and expand into a full-time venture. 10% discount on franchise fees for all veterans. Initial investment: $4,450 – $79,750.