‘The Octo-Hire': 3 Ways To Avoid The Rising, Harmful Career Trend
The rise of "the octo-hire" is trending in the workplace when companies employ one person to be ... More responsible for eight or more tasks that they can't possibly perform.
I recently wrote a story on karoshi for Forbes.com, describing how chronic work overload can end your career and lead to your mental and physical health demise. Burnout is spiking, draining productivity within the American workforce. While all this is happening, Glassdoor has identified an unhealthy trend that it calls 'the octo-hire'--the overextended, over-stressed employee, juggling the workload of eight roles with limited time, energy and resources that inevitably lead to burnout.
Sometimes recruiters paint a rosy, unrealistic picture of a position for job seekers. Many of these vulnerable candidates are new graduates eager to land a good job. And they are at risk of becoming an octo-hire--overstretched workers, juggling multiple roles, trying to balance more responsibilities than they can possibly wrap their heads around.
Octo-hires often get inducted into a position when a company catfishes them, refusing to disclose the full responsibilities of the role. Unbeknownst to the unsuspecting new employee, they end up overloaded and overworked, wearing the hats of multiple people.
When they bite the catfish hook, octo-hires often experience 'Shift shock'--the frustration of realizing that the new job role is far beyond the scope of what an employer outlined in the job description, usually the result of a misleading or poorly designed hiring process. A Muse Shift Shock Survey found that 72% of respondents say they've experienced 'shift shock.'
Josh Millet, founder and CEO of Criteria believes one reason for the shock shift trend is that graduates struggle to obtain roles in the current job market that match their course of study. And they land jobs in which they're unlikely to use their college degrees. According to Millet, 'Candidates that can't find jobs they want, paired with employers struggling to find adequate talent, leads to a market heavy with dissatisfaction." To avoid this, he adds that if companies invest more into their hiring processes, they are more likely to find candidates with skills that match the roles they're looking to fill.
Meanwhile, the recruitment of octo-hires is contributing to the rise in burnout. Glassdoor notes that mentions of burnout in Glassdoor employee reviews have spiked 32%, the highest levels in a decade, making it seem like octo-hires are the 'new normal.' Glassdoor offers three examples to help you spot an octo-hire wearing the hats of three or four employees:
Job salary can make or break your job search. Not knowing a salary range limits your ability to fully understand the role. And if a company is vague or avoids disclosing the pay range, it could be a red flag. An analysis by Resume.io found that of 20,477 job advertisements, only 39% (8,031) disclose their salary, which leaves employees wondering.
The report concludes that HR professionals, economists, orthodontists and pilots also keep candidates guessing, with less than one in four ads disclosing pay. A notable 78% of job seekers say they're less likely to apply if salary isn't shown, meaning pay secrecy (which could lead to octo-hiring) could be shrinking talent pools and widening pay gaps.
Simon Bocca, founder and CEO of PayCaptain, suggests that you ask directly and early in the process about salary. He cautions that it's a fair question, and if there's a refusal or hesitation, don't bite the hook. Bocca also points out that you can network with peers or informal groups that share salary information to help each other navigate what he calls 'these opaque systems.'
But to mitigate the problem before you get inducted, think ahead. Do your own research about the roles and companies you're considering before making a commitment. Check out the company's website, Glassdoor or LinkedIn page as resources where you can obtain information on their values, goals and how long employees have chosen to stay with the company.
Glassdoor suggests that you ask if the job description contains a list of unreasonable responsibilities, combination of job titles or terms like 'wearing multiple hats' or 'team player' and warning you to watch for sudden departures of numerous employees after you're hired.
During the job interview be assertive. Hiring managers are impressed when candidates set a clear understanding from the start by voicing what they're looking for in a position. Be sure to ask specific questions regarding the role, salary and general job expectations throughout the hiring process.
If you do all these things and still miss the subtle cues and have shift shock over discovering you're an octo-hire, your first impulse might be to immediately jump ship and end up job hopping. Although one study revealed 80% of the respondents believe it's acceptable to leave a new job before six months if it doesn't live up to expectations, don't be too quick to bail right away. Glassdoor suggests that you take several actions before throwing in the towel:
1. Try to negotiate a new title and/or a raise. But first, find out if your new responsibilities are permanent and what prompted them.
2. Set reasonable expectations up front for your redefined role to help you avoid burnout later.
3. Keep a paper trail of any expectations and new assignments you've discussed with your manager, plus any changes to your compensation, benefits or title to build your case.
Burnout is described as the silent epidemic, and it's both a people killer and a career killer. Burnout out comes from unmanaged stress, overloading yourself with too many hours of working or assuming too many roles that pull you in too many directions. Once you have burnout, taking time off, slowing down or working fewer hours won't remedy the condition.
If you're dealing with the octo-hire issue, your best recourse is to take preemptive action before you hit the wall. If you're a recent graduate or a new hire, put your self-care at the top of the list. Avoid falling into the trap of the octo-hire, and commit to a job that doesn't require you to sacrifice your mental and physical health. Overloading yourself with too many roles and overworking too many hours is not a badge of honor, and burnout isn't a prerequisite to career success.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
These Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks Are Quietly Outperforming the Market
Two AI stocks have crushed the broader market in the past year, and they seem primed for more upside. Fast-growing demand for AI tools in cloud-based services is helping these companies attract new customers. 10 stocks we like better than Twilio › Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have been in fine form on the market in the past few years, and that's not surprising, as this technology has supercharged the growth of many companies. Thanks to huge investments in AI hardware such as semiconductors, as well as the rapidly growing adoption of AI software to boost productivity, it is estimated that overall spending on AI could hit a massive $628 billion by 2028. This explains why investors have been buying AI stocks hand over fist. However, there are certain AI stocks that have significantly outpaced the broader stock market, and importantly, they still have the potential to deliver more upside. Let's take a closer look at these two names that aren't all that popular, but have been outperforming the market in the past year. Twilio (NYSE: TWLO) stock is up an impressive 115% in the past year as of this writing, easily outperforming the 11% gains clocked by the Nasdaq Composite over the same period. The good part is that Twilio still trades at an attractive 26 times forward earnings and 4 times sales, even after its terrific surge in the past year. The valuation makes buying Twilio stock a no-brainer right now, especially considering how AI now plays an important role in accelerating its growth. Twilio's application programming interfaces (APIs) allow its clients to connect with their customers through various channels such as voice, text, email, video, chat, and others. Twilio points out that its customer engagement platform is used by more than 300,000 enterprises globally. Specifically, the company ended the first quarter of 2025 with more than 335,000 active customer accounts, an increase of 7% from the previous year. This huge customer base is a key reason why one can consider buying Twilio stock right now, as it gives the company the opportunity to cross-sell its AI offerings to a big pool of customers. Twilio has been offering multiple AI tools to customers, such as generative AI-powered assistants that can help tackle customer service queries autonomously, integrating human-like conversational AI assistants to talk to customers in real time and derive critical insights from customers' data with the help of AI. The growing demand for these AI services helps Twilio win more business from existing customers. This is evident from the five-percentage-point jump in fiscal 2025 Q1's dollar-based net expansion rate compared to the first quarter of 2024. The higher customer spending, along with an increase in Twilio's customer base, are the reasons why it has raised its full-year organic revenue growth guidance to 8% from the earlier forecast of 7.5%. This combination of higher customer spending, along with an increase in the customer count, explains why analysts expect a 24% increase in Twilio's earnings this year, followed by impressive growth over the next couple of years as well. Assuming Twilio indeed generates $6.21 per share in earnings after a couple of years and trades at 30 times earnings at that time (in line with the tech-laden Nasdaq-100 index's forward earnings multiple), its stock price could jump to $186. That would be a 59% jump from current levels. So, investors can expect more upside from this AI stock going forward, which is why it would be a smart idea to consider buying it while it trades at attractive levels. Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) share prices have jumped an impressive 64% in the past year despite bouts of volatility, and a closer look at the price chart will tell us that the stock has made a sharp move up in the past couple of months. Importantly, more upside in Snowflake stock cannot be ruled out, as fast-growing adoption of the company's AI-focused data cloud tools is helping it build a robust revenue pipeline for the future. Snowflake's data cloud platform enables customers to safely store their data in a single platform, which can then be used to derive insights and build applications. The company's AI-specific tools are now helping customers get more out of their data. They can apply large language models (LLMs) to their data to build applications such as AI agents, generative AI assistants, and search documents through natural language prompts, among other things. These offerings are turning out to be a hit among Snowflake customers, with nearly 45% of its 11,600-strong customer base using its AI tools every week in the previous quarter. Additionally, AI is helping Snowflake attract more customers. This is evident from the 19% year-over-year increase in its customer count in Q1 of fiscal 2026. This combination of an increase in Snowflake's customer base, along with the growing adoption of its AI tools, is the reason why its remaining performance obligations (RPO) increased by an impressive 34% year over year in the previous quarter to $6.7 billion, which was better than the 26% growth in its product revenue to just under $1 billion. The strong growth in its revenue pipeline encouraged management to increase its fiscal 2026 revenue guidance as well. What's more, Snowflake's earnings are expected to increase by a third in the current fiscal year to $1.10 per share. Consensus estimates project faster growth over the next couple of fiscal years. That won't be surprising, as Snowflake's ability to win more business from its existing customers and an improvement in its overall customer count should allow it to continue improving its revenue pipeline, especially considering that it sees its total addressable market growing to a whopping $342 billion in 2028. In all, Snowflake investors can expect more upside from this cloud stock following the impressive gains that it has delivered in the past year, driven by a new catalyst in the form of AI. Before you buy stock in Twilio, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Twilio wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $891,722!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Snowflake and Twilio. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. These Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks Are Quietly Outperforming the Market was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
28 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Charting the Global Economy: Key Central Banks Hold on Rates
Central bankers in the US, UK and Japan held the line on interest rates this week as officials attempt to gauge the impact of tariffs, uncertainty about economic activity and war in the Middle East. While the median forecast from US Federal Reserve officials showed two interest-rate cuts by the end of the year, seven policymakers — up from four at the March meeting — indicated they see no reduction.
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Tompkins County home listings asked for less money in May - see the current median price here
The median home in Tompkins County listed for $475,000 in May, down 2.5% from the previous month's $487,000, an analysis of data from shows. Compared to May 2024, the median home list price increased 2% from $468,500. The statistics in this article only pertain to houses listed for sale in Tompkins County, not houses that were sold. Information on your local housing market, along with other useful community data, is available at Tompkins County's median home was 2,240 square feet, listed at $216 per square foot. The price per square foot of homes for sale is up 6.8% from May 2024. Listings in Tompkins County moved briskly, at a median 39 days listed compared to the May national median of 51 days on the market. In the previous month, homes had a median of 34 days on the market. Around 92 homes were newly listed on the market in May, a 24.3% increase from 74 new listings in May 2024. The median home prices issued by may exclude many, or even most, of a market's homes. The price and volume represent only single-family homes, condominiums or townhomes. They include existing homes, but exclude most new construction as well as pending and contingent sales. Across the Ithaca metro area, median home prices fell to $472,000, slightly lower than a month earlier. The median home had 2,240 square feet, at a list price of $216 per square foot. In New York, median home prices were $699,000, the same as April. The median New York home listed for sale had 1,578 square feet, with a price of $435 per square foot. Throughout the United States, the median home price was $440,000, a slight increase from the month prior. The median American home for sale was listed at 1,840 square feet, with a price of $234 per square foot. The median home list price used in this report represents the midway point of all the houses or units listed over the given period of time. Experts say the median offers a more accurate view of what's happening in a market than the average list price, which would mean taking the sum of all listing prices then dividing by the number of homes sold. The average can be skewed by one particularly low or high price. The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Please leave any feedback or corrections for this story here. This story was written by Ozge Terzioglu. Our News Automation and AI team would like to hear from you. Take this survey and share your thoughts with us. This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Tompkins County home listings asked for less money in May - see the current median price here
