- A millennial in California is secretly working a second remote job so he can afford weight-loss drugs.
- He said taking Mounjaro and Zepbound has helped him lose 45 pounds.
Last August, George decided he wanted to try to work a second remote job — and not tell his employers he was job juggling.
The California-based millennial was bored with his contract finance gig in the biotech industry, he told Business Insider via email. And he thought the extra income would help him afford rent, pay down credit card debt, and travel more.
But there was another big reason he wanted to be "overemployed:" It would help him afford weight-loss drugs.
"I wanted to start on Mounjaro and knew I couldn't afford the out-of-pocket cost without a second job," said George, whose identity is known to BI but has been withheld due to his fear of professional repercussions.
Mounjaro is among the appetite-suppressing GLP-1 drugs that have helped some people manage their weight. The Eli Lilly-produced drug received FDA approval in 2022 as a diabetes treatment, and last November, the FDA approved Zepbound — a weight-loss-specific version of the drug with the same main ingredient. Mounjaro and Zepbound are in the same class of drugs as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy.
Weight-loss drugs have grown in popularity over the last year, but their costs have kept them out of reach for some people. Zepbound and Wegovy each cost over $1,000 a month, require weekly injections, and may need to be taken on a long-term basis to sustain any weight loss. What's more, many insurance plans don't cover them.
In late September, George started a second full-time remote job in the same industry. He's on track to earn roughly $166,000 this year across his jobs, according to documents viewed by Business Insider. The contract roles pay a combined $80 an hour, and George said occasional overtime pay offsets the lack of paid vacation time. He said he's only told his family and a few friends about his overemployment.
George said roughly doubling his earnings has had a huge impact on his life. He was able to afford Mounjaro and said he's dropped 45 pounds — from 220 lbs to 175 lbs — since he started taking it in October. The extra income has also helped him pay down credit card debt and made his monthly bills much more manageable.
"I don't stress about every little cent anymore," he said. "It has been tremendously freeing."
George is among a niche group of remote workers secretly holding multiple jobs and earning well over six figures a year. These people have used their extra income to pay off mortgages, save for an early retirement, and take lavish vacations. While some bosses may be fine with employees taking on extra work, being caught doing so without company approval could be a fireable offense.
For George, his overemployment has been worth the risk.
Working efficiently is the key to avoiding burnout as an overemployed worker
When George began looking for a second job, he said he didn't know anything about the overemployed community or the subreddit where job jugglers share tips and tricks. He said his job search consisted of working with a few recruiters and staffing firms and applying for jobs on his own.
After a roughly monthlong search, he started his second job and was able to afford Mounjaro.
Between October and the end of 2023, George paid over $3,200 for three months of Mounjaro injections, according to a document viewed by Business Insider.
But when Eli Lilly rolled out its new weight-loss drug Zepbound in November, it began offering discounted prescriptions of Zepbound to patients whose insurance didn't cover the drug. George switched to Zepbound and said he's now paying roughly $550 a month for his weight-loss medication, though this discount could expire at the end of 2024.
George hasn't had too much trouble juggling multiple jobs — he said he typically gets all his work done in less than 60 hours a week. While one of his teams goes into the office every once in a while for a happy hour, he said this isn't mandatory.
His main piece of advice for job jugglers: Stay on top of your workload.
"I have had a few extremely late nights trying to get everything done because I didn't allocate time correctly during the week," he said.
If his overemployment regularly required him to work 60-plus hour weeks, he said it wouldn't be sustainable.
Going forward, George said he plans to continue taking Zepbound, but that he's open to trying a different drug if it's more affordable. He has no plans to give up his overemployment, in large part because it's made his recent weight loss journey possible.
"If one contract ends for some reason, I will definitely be seeking another to replace it," he said.
Are you working multiple remote jobs at the same time and willing to discuss details about your pay and schedule? If so, reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@insider.com.