Latest update:
A technician who earns over Rs 70 lakh annually has revealed that he has been moonlighting for years, sacrificing his social life and savings in pursuit of financial success.
A Reddit post by a young tech professional highlighted the burnout and isolation that comes with secretly working two jobs (Image-AI)
A young techie’s confession on Reddit about earning over Rs 70 lakh a year while balancing two remote jobs has struck a chord online, highlighting the hidden emotional cost of hustle culture in India. Despite the impressive salary, the engineer said the long hours left him exhausted, socially isolated and constantly prioritizing work over his personal life.
In a now-deleted post titled “I used to work as a platform engineer – and was making -70L per year – and now it’s down,” the Reddit user explained that he had been working two jobs at the same time for over a year.
One role was working with an Indian startup on a contract basis, which took more than four hours a day. The second job was with the Indian arm of a US-based company. Although the role is officially structured as an eight-hour workday, he said it often extends to more than 10 hours on weekdays.
Since both positions were remote, he was able to manage the workload for a while. However, the long working hours eventually affected his personal life.
“They were both working from home, so it was easy, but my social life was basically zero,” he wrote.
The engineer, who graduated in 2022 from a third-level college and came from a non-traditional engineering background, said moonlighting had been part of his career for years. He revealed that he started working while still in college, initially taking up Android development jobs that paid between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 per month.
Over time, he expanded his skills to include Python, back-end systems, and platform architecture. He also contributed to Google’s Summer of Code as a student and later as a mentor, eventually landing roles at startups and unicorns despite not following the traditional big tech path that focuses heavily on DSA interviews.
The Redditor said he recently decided to leave the role at the Indian startup after receiving a pay increase from the US-based company, which raised his annual compensation there to around Rs 74.5 lakh.
He explained that the decision was not just about reducing stress and reclaiming time for himself, but also about taxes. By staying below Rs 75 lakh in annual income, he said he would still be eligible for presumptive tax under Section 44ADA, which would significantly reduce his tax liability.
“Otherwise, I would need to earn Rs 20 lakh more just to make the extra work worth it,” he wrote, adding that otherwise it would be like “working overtime for taxes.”
Despite earning a significant income, the engineer admitted that he had not built savings or traditional investments in mutual funds or stocks. Instead, he used his profits to buy a property worth Rs 1.3 crore without taking a loan. He also said he was about to pay off his low-interest car loan.
Aside from that, he bought a gaming laptop and built a home gym, although he admits he didn’t have the time to use either. He added that he obtained a fixed-term insurance policy and health insurance for himself and his parents.
Now that he’s stepping back from a role, he said he finally has time to think about other priorities in life, including health, relationships and marriage.
“Most of my career has been about being in the right place at the right time. Now that I’ve left one job, I take some time back, once my notice period is up, and think about life (marriage, health, social life),” he wrote.
The post sparked a torrent of reactions online, with many users praising his hard work, while others reflected on the personal cost of such an intense lifestyle. One user wrote: “An example of how hard work and luck combined can take you places. Great job. Go play that game you’ve always wanted to play.”
“It’s like a fairy tale😂😂,” said another.
“Legend. Retire now bro – have kids and enjoy your life…respect OP,” another commented.
A user asked: “How did I get a contractual job in an Indian startup. I am looking for such jobs where the working hours are ideally low <= 6, even if the pay is less, do I want to prepare for competitive exam besides, is there any way to get such kind of job."
Another user wrote: “Do you ever regret wasting time not going out as much with friends and having fun? You’re well settled now no doubt about that, but I’m just curious if you were to start over would you change the way things have been going.”
Another said: “Can you suggest how to apply for such companies? Another question, how will you pay only 8 lakhs in annual tax? I earn around 42 lakhs and pay around 6 to 7 lakhs.”
“So happy to read this! Coming from the same non-traditional background in engineering, this motivated me!” User expressed.
April 22, 2026 at 4:59 PM IST
Read more
