Are Your Workers Working Other Jobs?

It’s not uncommon for an employee to hold a second job outside of your office, whether it’s a side gig that they are trying to turn into a passion project or a side hustle just to make ends meet or put away a little extra money every month. Workers holding multiple jobs is certainly not unheard of—if anything it’s more common than ever, thanks to the remote work surge. How does this phenomenon impact your organization?

The United States Census states that around 8.9 percent of workers hold more than one job, something which equates to about 13 million workers.

Side hustles are common enough; they help people save up for a vacation, pay off debts, or even invest more into retirement. They might work this job after-hours and off the clock from your job, burning the midnight oil to get that extra bread. There’s nothing wrong with this, but when it starts to interfere with your business—i.e. The employee is working two full-time asynchronous jobs remotely—then it becomes a problem.

It’s controversial enough in its own right, but it’s worth thinking about, as this kind of situation can impact your business and its operations if left unchecked. Some employers might be under the impression that an employee who holds multiple jobs will cost them money, whether it’s through taking time off unexpectedly to recharge, being too distracted to work their primary job (your business), or if they actually use their time at your office to work their other job at the same time.

We aren’t necessarily advocating that your business implement policies to actively police or punish your employees for holding a second job, but you do have a responsibility to your own business to ensure that the second job isn’t harming your operations or impacting their day-to-day duties. It’s worth having a conversation with your employees about the dangers of overworking and what your expectations are for them.

To address the “overworking” problem, we recommend you do the following:

• Make sure your employees maintain an appropriate work-life balance—at least for your own company.
• Compensate your employees as well as you can, budget pending.
• Understand that everyone’s circumstances are different and that some employees simply cannot afford to live on just one salary alone.

There is one fundamental fact that we want you to walk away from this blog with: nobody wants to work 80 hours-a-week just to get by. You don’t know their circumstances, but you should try to make their experiences at your office as painless as possible.

One way you can dramatically reduce your employees’ stress in the workplace is by taking proper care of your technology and implementing solutions designed to streamline operations. The less friction your employees feel about their technology, the fewer frustrations they will have to endure, leading to a more satisfying work experience overall. To learn more, call us today at (509) 534-1530.