Meanings
overemployed1
- participlepastsimple past and past participle of overemploy
overemployed2
comparative more overemployed · superlative most overemployed
- Employed for more hours than full-time work.
In part this is so because the percentage of workers who are overemployed tends to pale in comparison to the proportion who are underemployed, particularly in the United States.
2015, Morris Altman, Handbook of Contemporary Behavioral Economics, →ISBN, page 4863 more examples
People who remain overemployed tolerate longer hours because they either expect their overemployment to be brief (such as temporary care-giving), or figure that part-time or reduced hours status involves too large a sacrifice in terms of benefit coverage or job status.
2003, John de Graaf, Take Back Your Time: Fighting Overwork and Time Poverty in America, →ISBNThose working on a regular daytime shift, the vast majority of US workers, have a slightly raised likelihood of being overemployed compared to those working the evening shift (the reference group).
2006, Jean-Yves Boulin, Michel Lallement, Decent Working Time: New Trends, New Issues, →ISBN, page 227Female workers appear to be significantly more at risk of being overemployed than their male counterparts, on the order of about 4 percent greater likelihood (which is reduced only negligibly by inclusion of job characteristics as controls).
2014, Itzhak Harpaz, Raphael Snir, Heavy Work Investment, →ISBN - InternetWorking multiple jobs at the same time, often without the knowledge of one's employers.
[Sarah] Murphy is one of the "overemployed"—employees secretly working more than one full-time job, aided by the rise of remote work ushered in by the Covid-19 pandemic.
2022 September 27, Fadeke Adegbuyi, “The Unlikely Cure for Burnout? A Second Job”, in Wired, San Francisco, C.A.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Mar 20231 more example
With recent posts like "7 Tips to Avoid Lifestyle Creep When Making $600K", and "$1.2M with 5 IT Jobs", it’s easy to see the appeal of becoming overemployed when people are overwhelmed.
2022 October 17, Chris Westfall, “Troubling Trend Of Overemployment: Can A Side Hustle Get You Fired?”, in Forbes, New York, N.Y.: Forbes Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Mar 2023
Origin
Cite this entry
overemployed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overemployed
“overemployed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overemployed. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overemployed,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overemployed.
Source: overemployed on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.