Gary Lightfoot of suburban Denver made a shocking discovery last Tuesday when he received a direct deposit notification for a job he never applied for—turns out his shadow has been successfully working from home as a digital marketing consultant for the past three years.

"I was confused when I kept getting LinkedIn notifications about my 'outstanding work performance,'" Lightfoot explained, gesturing to his shadow, which seemed to be typing on an invisible keyboard. "I thought it was spam until I checked my bank account and found an extra $75,000 in earnings."

According to employment records, Lightfoot's shadow, going by the professional name "Gray L. Foot," has been attending virtual meetings, completing projects, and even receiving employee-of-the-month awards while Lightfoot went about his regular job as a plumber.

"The shadow has been incredibly productive," said Rebecca Digital, HR representative at ShadowCorp Industries. "Gray never misses deadlines, works in complete silence, and has somehow managed to attend video calls without anyone noticing they couldn't actually see them."

The phenomenon has led to a surge in "Shadow Employment" agencies and raised important questions about work-life balance. Labor lawyers are currently debating whether shadows qualify for their own health insurance.

Lightfoot's shadow was unavailable for comment, as it was apparently in a budget meeting.