Updated
Overemployment statistics and cases
Every number on this page links to its source and carries its date. Where the evidence is thin, the page says so.
The short version
29%
of U.S. hiring managers say they have confirmed at least one employee holding a second full-time job at the same time.
25 in 1,000
When Equifax checked more than 1,000 of its own employees and contractors against payroll records in 2022, it found 25 with a second job and fired 24.
310,000
Americans told the Bureau of Labor Statistics in October 2026 that they hold two full-time jobs.
6 months
of overlapping pay, on average, for the 93 state employees a Washington audit found on two public payrolls.
13 jobs
A Maryland man held remote IT jobs at 13 companies from 2021 to 2024 and was paid more than $970,000.
485,000
weekly visitors to r/overemployed, a Reddit forum whose own description reads "Work multiple jobs during the same 40 hours, reach financial freedom."
How many people hold two full-time jobs
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 9.0 million multiple jobholders in October 2026, or 5.5% of employed Americans. Most combine a full-time job with a part-time one. About 310,000 reported holding two full-time jobs.
That figure comes from a household survey, so it depends on people saying so. Someone hiding a second job from two employers has a reason not to report it. We read 310,000 as a floor. That is our inference, and the Bureau does not make it.
It is also organized. r/overemployed, a Reddit forum created in May 2021 to help people work multiple jobs during the same hours, drew 485,000 visitors in the week of November 12, 2026. Visitors are not all doing it, and Reddit does not say how many are.
Employers see it from the other side. In a September 2026 survey of 3,000 U.S. managers involved in hiring, 29% said they had confirmed at least one employee working another full-time job at the same time, and 58% believed one might be doing so now. Checkr, which ran the survey, sells background checks and has an interest in the result.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, table A-16, October 2026 · Reddit, r/overemployed community page, November 12, 2026 · Checkr survey of 3,000 managers, September 2026
What one company found when it checked
Few private employers have checked their own workforce and said what they found. Equifax did in 2022. It compared more than 1,000 of its employees and contractors against its own payroll-records database, found 25 with a second job, and dismissed 24. That is about 2.5% of the people checked.
How long it lasts
A 2024 audit by the Washington State Auditor found 93 state employees on two public payrolls. Their overlapping pay had run six months on average. One remote worker held two full-time jobs for more than a year.
It can run far longer. A federal HR specialist who pleaded guilty in 2026 had billed overlapping hours to six employers over three years.
Washington State Auditor, December 2024 · U.S. Department of Justice, April 2026
What it costs an employer
Using public benchmarks, one case on a $150,000 salary costs about $120,413: pay for work not done, a recruiting fee, the replacement's slower first months, severance and manager time. That leaves out legal, security and morale costs.
For comparison, Gallup puts the cost of replacing any employee at one-half to two times annual salary.
Documented cases
Cases from court records, audits and news reports, newest first. Government cases are over-represented because public employers are audited and prosecuted in public, while private companies usually dismiss people quietly.
| Date | Case | What happened | Risk | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | City of Austin auditRealClearInvestigations, on a City of Austin audit | An employee held overlapping jobs with the State of Texas and the City of Austin. Her city supervisor rated her work as poor. | Time and pay | She resigned after auditors interviewed her. The city is unsure it can recover any pay. |
| April 2026 | United States v. AlmonorU.S. Department of Justice | A federal HR specialist billed overlapping telework hours to five government employers and a private company from 2022 to 2025, often more than 120 hours in a 40-hour week. Colleagues complained she could not be reached. | Time and pay | At least $291,905 in unearned pay. She pleaded guilty to wire fraud. |
| January 2026 | Rippling v. DeelPYMNTSAlleged | Rippling says a competitor paid one of its employees to pull confidential sales information while still employed there. Federal grand jury subpoenas have been reported. | Conflict of interest | Pending. Deel denies the claims and has countersued. |
| October 2025 | Employbridge lawsuitHCAMagAlleged | A staffing company says two employees began working for a rival while still on its payroll during their notice period, and that one forwarded customer lists and pricing to a personal email account. | Conflict of interest | Pending. The suit makes trade secret and contract claims. |
| July 2025 | Soham Parekh and the startupsTechCrunch | A software engineer worked at several startups at once from 2022. One founder's public warning led others to compare notes and find they had hired the same person. | Time and pay | Let go by several startups. No lawsuit has been reported. |
| June 2025 | North Korean remote IT workersNextgov, on U.S. Department of Justice actions | The Justice Department says operatives used more than 80 stolen U.S. identities to hold remote jobs at over 100 companies. Agents searched 29 suspected laptop farms. | Security | At least $3 million in damages to companies in one case, and about $915,000 in cryptocurrency stolen in another. |
| April 2025 | United States v. VongU.S. Department of Justice | A Maryland man held remote IT jobs at 13 companies from 2021 to 2024. Workers overseas used his laptop and federal ID card to reach a sensitive aviation system. | Security, Time and pay | More than $970,000 in pay. He pleaded guilty. |
| July 2024 | KnowBe4's fake hireCyberScoop | A new remote engineer at a security company passed background checks and four interviews, then loaded malware onto his company laptop. | Security | Stopped by the company's security team. No data was lost. |
| April 2024 | Social Security Administration employeeSocial Security Administration, Office of the Inspector GeneralAlleged | Prosecutors say a federal employee ran a home inspection business during telework hours from 2019 to 2022. | Time and pay | About $49,256 in alleged losses. He was charged with wire fraud. |
| October 2023 | Senior employee doing the same job twiceSHRM | A senior employee did the same job for another company during the same hours. The other company raised it. | Time and pay, Conflict of interest | Dismissed. |
| October 2022 | Equifax checks its own workforceTech.co, citing Business Insider | Equifax compared more than 1,000 of its own employees and contractors against payroll records and found 25 with a second job. | Time and pay | 24 were dismissed. |
| September 2022 | Wipro and its competitorsBusiness Today | Wipro, an IT services company, said it had found about 300 employees working directly for a competitor while still employed by Wipro. | Conflict of interest | Dismissed where violations were found. |
| 2022 | Canopy's two new engineersBenzinga, via Yahoo Finance | The CEO of Canopy, a U.S. software company, said two newly hired engineers, each paid $130,000 to $140,000, were holding second full-time jobs. Managers noticed cameras off, slow replies and missed meetings. | Time and pay | Both were dismissed. |
| August 2021 | Baltimore city engineerWYPR, on a Baltimore Inspector General report | A city engineer held a private full-time job that overlapped his city hours by seven and a half hours every weekday. | Time and pay | He kept his city job. The city tightened its policy. |
| March 2020 | Google v. LevandowskiCNBC | An arbitration panel found a former Google engineer engaged in unfair competition and breached his obligations by starting a rival company and recruiting Google employees. | Conflict of interest | $179 million awarded to Google with interest and fees. He filed for bankruptcy. |
Cases marked Alleged are unproven claims in pending proceedings.
Surveys we don't rely on, and why
Some widely quoted figures say a third or more of remote workers hold two full-time jobs. We leave them out of our own claims.
“36% of remote workers hold two or more full-time jobs”
An online panel of 1,272 self-selected remote workers. The method is not published in enough detail to check.
“37% of remote workers hold a second full-time job”
The full report sits behind a registration wall and its method is not public.
The gap between 310,000 people in government data and a third of remote workers in online panels is too wide to close with what is public today.
Sources
- Checkr survey of 3,000 managers, September 2026
- Tech.co, citing Business Insider, October 2022
- U.S. Department of Justice, April 2025
- U.S. Department of Justice, April 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, table A-16, October 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026
- Washington State Auditor, December 2024
- RealClearInvestigations, on a City of Austin audit, July 2026
- CNBC, March 2020
- Benzinga, via Yahoo Finance, February 2025
- Business Today, September 2022
- CyberScoop, on CrowdStrike's threat hunting report, August 2025
- CyberScoop, July 2024
- Nextgov, on U.S. Department of Justice actions, June 2025
- TechCrunch, July 2025
- PYMNTS, January 2026
- HCAMag, October 2025
- Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, April 2024
- SHRM, October 2023
- WYPR, on a Baltimore Inspector General report, August 2021
- Gallup, March 2019
- Underdog.io, July 2026
- Challenger, Gray & Christmas, December 2025
- Reddit, r/overemployed community page, November 12, 2026
- HCAMag, on a ResumeBuilder survey, February 2023
- Security Executive Council, 2023
Update log
- November 12, 2026: Added two private-sector cases (Canopy, Wipro) and weekly visitors to the r/overemployed forum on Reddit.
- November 11, 2026: First published. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures are for October 2026.