Remember when having a secret second job was something you lied about?
Not anymore. *Parallel work* — holding down two (or more) jobs at once — has officially lost its stigma. In fact, it's becoming the norm.
What counts as parallel work?
It's not a side hustle. It's not fractional consulting. It's literally two jobs at the same time — sometimes two full-time roles, sometimes an entirely different career layered on top of your existing one.
And the numbers are wild. According to a new Intch study of 142,000+ career histories:
- **29%** of boomers hold multiple roles simultaneously
- **44%** of Gen Xers do
- **59%** of Gen Zers do
- **64%** of millennials do
Employment is officially no longer a straight line.
The transparency shift is real
Here's the biggest change: people stopped hiding it.
In a snapshot of 700,000 profiles, **97% remained publicly discoverable** — and professionals were roughly **six times less likely to hide their profiles** than they were two years earlier.
Even company leaders are doing it. Intch's own CEO says his head of HR and head of payments both hold full-time roles elsewhere — openly.
Why people are doing it
Two reasons dominate:
1. *Money.* A 2025 Fiverr survey found 67% of Gen Zers say they need more than one income stream for financial reasons.
2. *Skills.**Juggling concurrent roles builds multiple specialized skills at once.
As voice actor and copywriter Carissa Ferguson put it: "Having multiple income streams means I never have to turn down an acting or creative opportunity because I'm worried about paying rent."
The catch: burnout is real
A quarter of workers report burnout before age 30. That tracks — younger generations are the most likely to work multiple jobs.
What it means for employers
Hiring may need a rethink. Instead of filling one full position with one person, leaders might move toward **specialized part-time roles** for individual tasks.
And that resume with a long list of positions? It might not signal "job hopper" anymore. It could signal *depth* — not drift.