The rapid expansion of remote work, brought on by the pandemic, has come with its share of challenges for companies and workers alike. While it provides numerous benefits to everyone involved, it makes keeping track of the use of time by employees next to impossible. According to Canopy CEO Davis Bell, this has opened up companies to “time theft.” When he discovered two of his engineers were working second full-time jobs, he cut them loose from the company.
As opposed to merely working side gigs or freelancing, both new Canopy hires were found to have maintained second full-time jobs, leading to performance problems that management flagged. This trend of “overemployment” has affected other companies, but for Bell, it’s theft and deception that he is unwilling to abide. However, his LinkedIn post decrying it has drawn anger from online critics, including those who note the hypocrisy on the part of tech execs who are often praised for working several gigs.
Bell insists that his criticism of the trend is not aimed at lower-income people working multiple jobs to survive, but rather toward individuals at large companies who augment their substantial incomes with jobs at other organizations. He says the practice can be especially damaging to small and medium-sized businesses — like his own.
