They are the same. You want to be a 30th percentile employee. Bad enough to do little work and never be trusted with anything important or with hard deadlines, but just good enough not to fire.

He is saying that if I am not getting fired, I am good enough to continue working there.

I am familiar enough with the concepts of OE.

There is a difference between being good and efficient enough to handle number roles, and the borderline scam of "get a remote job and try to stay under the radar and drag it out before they fire you".

I'm honestly not 100% sure which of those you are advocating for.

I'm just confused. Why can't people have second tech jobs?

Cashiers can have second jobs working in a different store. Factory workers can work in other factories (it's hard on your body but overall okay).

No one would similarly complain if an Google software engineer was also 'forced' to make ends meet by working in an Apple retail store.

Yes, it's hard on your body and mind to work more than 1 job, but if you need the money then what choice do you have?

Because they haven't been let go? They're paid for the time they're there, not the time they are not.