Stealth working is doing your full job from a different location than your employer knows about, like working remotely while pretending to be in the office. Not directly concerning but ethically questionable; worth conversations about transparency with employers. If your kid uses it constantly, ask them where they first heard it, not to police their speech but to understand which online community they are in.
stealth working
Secretly working a second remote job from the same home office — not disclosed to either employer.
stelθ ˈwɜːk.ɪŋCoined ~20222020sGen Alphatrending313 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026＋ Add a definition
Etymology timeline
Born ~2022 · no dated citations yetDefinitions
Global
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#1·Apr 24, 2026Global
Secretly working a second remote job from the same home office — not disclosed to either employer. Forums are full of these workers comparing notes.
"Making $380k stealth working two FAANG jobs. For now."
Origin: Modern corporate and agile-methodology lexicon.
For parents
Stealth working is doing your full job from a different location than your employer knows about, like working remotely while pretending to be in the office. Not directly concerning but ethically questionable; worth conversations about transparency with employers. If your kid uses it constantly, ask them where they first heard it, not to police their speech but to understand which online community they are in.
For ESL learners
Stealth working is informal workforce vocabulary describing the practice of secretly working from undisclosed locations, typically remote when expected to be in-office. Use in workplace and career writing. Formal equivalent: "undisclosed remote work," "unsanctioned location work." Common non-native mistake: confusing with stealth wealth (hidden wealth signalling). Stealth working is specifically about location deception. Read or listen to the word in context several times before trying it yourself; the right register is harder to learn than the dictionary meaning.
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Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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