In a world where remote working has become the norm, I am often confronted with the debate that it is controversial for a worker to have more than one job.
By COVID-19, the “work from home” incentive has stripped many managers of control. Employees were free from commuting and constant supervision, leading to a mix of efficient management and opportunism. Stories of Silicon Valley programmers juggling multiple jobs for high salaries agitated the management.
Here’s the thing: working multiple jobs isn’t a new thing. However, when a manager discovers an employee’s side job, the reactions are very different.
There is a huge gap between the official, politically correct corporate line promoted by the management and reality.
The politically correct view is that as long as the employee performs well, it doesn’t matter how many jobs they have. The focus should be on performance; if an employee is nonperforming, it should be dealt with like any other problem. However, if they are performing excellently, the reaction should be one of tolerance.
I often read clever advice that the secret to good management is to reward employees for outstanding performance and remember that employment is an exchange, trading time for results. What a colleague does beyond that time window should not affect decision-making.
It is considered to be disloyal if you have more than one job
In many cases, it is not performance but loyalty that counts. If an employee has more than one job, bosses often become outraged and brand employees as disloyal; they often even take personal offence and insist that they resign from all other jobs; – I have also been there. If this does not happen, it often results in the firing of the employee concerned.
Another typical attitude is that managers believe that if employees have time for other work, they can do more work and increase the number of tasks.
It really begs the question: how can someone do a fantastic job in several positions if good work takes time and everyone only has the same number of hours in a week (168 hours). So multiple jobs can probably only work if they are all part-time, or you can do multiple full-time jobs well if you are a robot (an AI agent.)
I would like to make it clear here that I don’t think anyone wants to work more than they need to. Unfortunately, in many cases more work is needed to make a living.
Suggestion: What about getting a decent salary?
My proposal is nothing new but essential for a regular (working) life.
Instead of thinking about whether it’s suitable for someone to have more than one job or what a good boss attitude is in such a case, the goal should be to pay workers a decent wage so that they can do a fantastic job in ONE JOB, and not have to work themselves to death in multiple jobs to make a decent living.
