Employees with one foot in and one foot out

The 27-year-old is a communications officer at a university in Ho Chi Minh City but designs content for two other advertising companies. "I have to work extra because my monthly income of 10 million VND is just enough to spend, I don't have any savings or to give to my parents," Bich said.

Before 2021, Bich only took on one side job, taking advantage of her free time to avoid affecting her main job, earning an extra one or two million VND each month. But after two years of working remotely due to Covid-19, she took on more work because her time was not managed, and her total income was up to 25 million VND. When she returned to the office, Bich still secretly worked extra. Sometimes she asked to stay in the office until midnight to work on her own projects because she wanted to save time commuting and use the air conditioner, electricity and water as she pleased.

Thanh Nhu, 40, a customer service representative at a transportation corporation in Hanoi, earns VND8 million per month. Before the pandemic, the couple’s income was enough to cover living expenses and mortgage payments. But for the past two years, her husband has been unemployed and her son has to take extra classes in secondary school, so she started an online cosmetics business to make ends meet.

Every day when she goes to work, Ms. Nhu carries big bags, small bags are orders waiting for shippers to pick up and deliver. Half of her time at the office, she replies to customer messages and posts product introductions in groups. One or two afternoons a week, the 40-year-old woman makes an excuse to go home early to pick up her child, but in reality, she goes to buy goods.

"My job is not too busy, the working hours are flexible so I take advantage of my free time to do extra work. Many colleagues are the same because the salary is low," said Ms. Nhu. Each month she earns more than 10 million VND from her own business but has no intention of quitting her main job because she wants to pay insurance, enjoy benefits and live in a collective.

Reporter Survey March 2023 recorded results that more than 50% of people want to do both their main job and a part-time job in parallel to increase their income. A 2022 survey by Anphabe recruitment company in Vietnam also showed that 13% of Vietnamese intellectual human resources are having to do both a permanent and part-time job in parallel.

Associate Professor Dr. Do Minh Cuong, Deputy Director of the Institute of Business Culture, Vietnam Association for Development of Business Culture, said that there is currently no comprehensive research on the issue of employees working multiple jobs in parallel in Vietnam, but this is a reality that has existed for many years.

The main reason is that salaries are not enough to cover expenses, Mr. Cuong said. When the needs for living, survival and entertainment are not guaranteed, it is inevitable that workers will do many jobs at the same time. In addition, the situation where many workers take advantage of office hours to work extra also shows the lax management of businesses, and the management level has not created connections and motivation for work.

"Most studies show that the group of people pursuing this trend are mainly low- to middle-income people, young people who want to challenge themselves," said Mr. Cuong.

Adding more, Master Le Anh Tu, Faculty of Public Relations - Communication, Van Lang University (Ho Chi Minh City), said that the need to do many jobs at the same time exploded after the pandemic, when many companies cut staff or reduced salaries to compensate for losses.

"Not to mention when inflation increases but wages decrease, many people find ways to balance their lives. Instead of spending sparingly and adopting a frugal lifestyle, some workers accept to work harder but the effort is worth it," said Mr. Tu.

According to experts, the reality of employees working multiple jobs at the same time is not only in Vietnam but also in many countries around the world. According to a survey by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of the end of October 2023, 412,000 Americans were working two full-time jobs at the same time, an increase of 105,000 compared to 2019.

Business Insider It is not uncommon for a person to work at multiple companies, but it is becoming a new trend. In their own community, they are called "Overemployed" - people who work two full-time jobs but the two companies do not know. On social networks, many Overemployed groups have also been created, with the participation of experts advising on how to circumvent regulations at businesses.

Admitting that multitasking is a new trend, Associate Professor Dr. Do Minh Cuong believes that deliberately taking up working time to do extra work does more harm than good and violates professional ethics. Multitasking also makes workers overwhelmed with work, tired, and living in fear of being discovered by their superiors.

Her frequent "disappearance" during office hours due to being busy delivering and receiving goods for customers caused Ms. Thanh Nhu to be reported to her superiors by her colleagues. She herself also received an email reminding her that her ranking was reduced by one level, affecting her year-end bonus.

"But if the salary is low, they (the leaders) don't have any opinion, as long as I complete my work, doing personal work or main work during working hours is the right of each employee. If I keep trying to contribute but my salary doesn't increase, my husband and children will starve," said Ms. Nhu.

Not only affecting the work performance of each individual, Mr. Cuong warned of negative impacts on businesses such as reducing revenue, causing expensive electricity and water costs, reducing the company's culture of discipline, and distancing employees from the collective.

Mr. Duc Huy, 40 years old, manager of an advertising company in Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi, still "turns a blind eye" to his employees doing multiple jobs at the same time.

He has often seen employees doing personal work, but he has ignored it because he knows the company is paying employees less than before the pandemic. In addition, he is concerned that a harsh reaction could cause highly qualified workers to quit, while finding and training new staff takes a lot of time and effort.

"No leader wants employees to betray the company, but the above situation is unavoidable. When salaries increase and revenue stabilizes, I will reorganize the organization," said Mr. Huy.

To avoid the situation where part-time work takes up main working hours and affects work performance, Associate Professor, Dr. Do Minh Cuong advises managers to consider salary increases or establish reward funds for employees. In addition, managers should also build corporate culture, tighten supervision, and put discipline into practice to avoid the situation where some employees have "longer legs outside than inside".

As for workers, Master Le Anh Tu said that they should know how to balance public and private work to avoid affecting the collective.

"No one prohibits workers from working overtime, but doing so requires professional ethics and careful calculation. If you work a lot but superficially, sooner or later you will be eliminated," said Mr. Tu.