After the COVID pandemic, the notion of “antiwork” became popular, but “overemployment” also rose. Presently, the r/overemployed subreddit has nearly 450,000 members, and this week, Redditors are bringing attention to Soham Parekh. Parekh, a software engineer in India, has attracted interest on Reddit and X for holding multiple startup positions concurrently, exemplifying the overemployment practice of discreetly managing several full-time roles. Suhail Doshi, founder of Playground AI, was the first to share this news on X, cautioning against Parekh’s behavior. Doshi remarked, “I let this guy go in his first week and told him to stop deceiving/scamming people. He hasn’t ceased a year later. No more justifications.”

Others within the tech sector recounted their experiences involving Parekh. Matthew Parkhurst, cofounder and CEO of Antimetal, resonated with Doshi’s views, mentioning Parekh’s initial attractiveness but eventual termination due to his numerous job obligations. Arkadiy Telegin, cofounder of Leaping AI, shared a comparable encounter, posting a photo with Parekh and another employer after uncovering his overemployment.

Numerous individuals posted screenshots of email conversations and interview timetables with Parekh. In a conversation with Technology Business Programming Network, Parekh confessed to working for various companies, citing financial needs and claiming to commit 140 hours a week. He insisted that he wrote all his code independently, using AI merely as a tool.

This scenario has ignited conversations regarding tech companies’ recruitment practices and the morality of holding multiple positions. Social media, as expected, reacted with a surge of memes.