The story of Soham Parekh, an Indian engineer who worked multiple full-time jobs simultaneously, sparks a fierce debate about work ethics, hiring loopholes, and the “overemployment” phenomenon in the era of remote work.
Introduction: Hero or fraudster?
In the years following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of “anti-work” grew popularly, but so did its opposite: “overemployment.” The r/overemployed subreddit boasts nearly 450,000 members, and this week its members are celebrating one person in particular: Soham Parekh. Parekh is a software engineer in India whose story went viral on Reddit and X for working at multiple startups simultaneously, which is the core concept of overemployment: securing multiple full-time jobs in the hope that no one notices.
This story is not just an individual anecdote, but rather a window into a deeper shift in work culture, where remote work flexibility has led to new strategies for maximizing income, raising complex ethical and practical questions for employers and employees alike.
A scandal on X
Suhail Doshi, founder of Playground AI and other companies, was the first to break the news on X. He posted a warning saying: “PSA: There is a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) working at 3-4 startups at the same time. He has been targeting YC companies and others. Beware.” Doshi continued in his post: “I fired this guy in his first week and told him to stop lying/scammed people. He hasn’t stopped a year later. No more excuses.”
Others in the tech industry quickly joined the debate, sharing their stories of interacting with Parekh, and sometimes hiring and firing him. Matthew Parkhurst, co-founder and CEO of the startup Antimetal, said: “Funny enough, Soham was our very first engineer we hired back in 2022… super smart and well-liked; enjoyed working with him… We realized very quickly that he was working at multiple companies and let him go.”
Parekh’s defense: Necessity drives working 140 hours a week
In an interview, Parekh admitted that he did indeed work at multiple companies at the same time. He said he is not proud of what he did, but claimed he did it out of “necessity” due to his “difficult” financial circumstances, though he did not go into detail. Parekh claimed he was working 140 hours a week (meaning 20 hours a day), adding that he is known among his friends for not sleeping much.
Parekh also asserted that he wrote “every inch” of the code he built, without relying on junior engineers, and only used AI to “help.” This claim adds another layer of complexity, portraying himself as a hyper-productive worker, rather than just someone collecting paychecks without delivering real work.
A broader debate on work ethics and hiring
This case has opened a broader debate about the interview process in these tech companies, as well as whether “secret moonlighting” across multiple companies is actually wrong. Some argue that what Parekh did is clear fraud, as he sells the same time to multiple employers, inevitably reducing the quality and quantity of work delivered to each. On the other hand, others—especially in the “overemployment” community—argue that if an employee completes all their tasks and meets expectations for all their jobs, they are not violating any contract, and that companies pay for results rather than exclusive time.
This case also highlights vulnerabilities in remote hiring and management processes. How can companies ensure their new employees are fully dedicated to their work? Should they implement stricter monitoring procedures, or would that undermine the trust and flexibility that attract talent in the first place?
Conclusion: A symbol of a new era of work
Soham Parekh’s story has become a symbol of the tension between traditional work models and the new possibilities (and risks) enabled by the remote work era. While some see him as a fraudster, others view him as a folk hero challenging a system that demands absolute loyalty without offering equivalent job security. Regardless of your perspective, his story is a reminder that the rules of the working world are changing rapidly, and both companies and employees need to adapt to this new and complex reality.
