Moonlighting has become a topic of debate in the IT industry as working from home became the new norm during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result of an employee being caught working for multiple businesses at once during the pandemic, moonlighting has quickly gained traction in India. Since then, companies have been divided on the issue, with moonlighting emerging as a challenge for the IT industry. The topic has recently elicited strong reactions from IT executives across the country, with Wipro chairman Rishad Premji recently coming under fire for revealing that his company fired 300 workers for moonlighting. After hearing the news, the IT major boss received a ‘hate message’ for the same.
The work-from-home operating model has given birth to Moonlighting issue, a new buzz in the IT industry, esp. among white-collar IT professionals in India. This has now boiled down to compliance issues and stirred the discussion over the future of the gig economy.
What Is Moonlighting?
Moonlighting can refer to a variety of activities, but it is most commonly associated with working secretly and at night. Moonlighting means taking up a second job apart from one’s full-time job. In layman’s terms, it’s a practice of working for another organization while committing oneself to one’s primary workplace, typically without the employer’s knowledge.
How Did It Start?
The first case of moonlighting came to light in India when HR tracked multiple active provident funds of a Bengaluru-based IT firm employee and found he was working for seven jobs.
Another incident, was when an IT head at a large Mumbai-based firm refused to attend office despite several requests. Later on, it was discovered that official mail was being used to send large files to another company. Soon after a forensic probe was launched.
And the list goes on….
Is Moonlighting Ethical Or Legal In India?
Factories Act, under the Government of India, prohibits dual employment. However, some states provide exemptions to IT corporations from that rule.
If an employee’s contract calls for non-compete and single employment, then moonlighting could be considered cheating. However, in absence of such a clause, it’s not.
Companies have opposed the practice, saying that moonlighting can impact employees’ productivity and could give rise to concerns about a violation of confidentiality
Diverse Opinion In IT Industry
After Wipro’s chief’s remarks, the Indian IT firm appears to be somewhat divided over moonlighting.
Wipro CEO Rishad Premji has been a vocal opponent of the practice of moonlighting. He recently stated that moonlighting is a “clear breach of integrity in its deepest form,” and has equated it with “deceit.”
Chief operating officer (COO) NG Subramaniam of TCS has termed it as an ethical issue.
Major IT company, Infosys recently dispatched an email to its employees stating that dual employment isn’t allowed and that any violation of contract clauses will bring in disciplinary action and which could even lead to the termination of recruitment.
Sandip Patel, MD for IBM India/South Asia, also expressed reservations about moonlighting. “Employees who join the establishment subscribe to a contract accepting to work only for IBM.”
While most businesses criticized moonlighting, not everyone affirmed the same. C P Gurnani, CEO of Tech Mahindra, said that it is necessary to keep up with the times, and somehow supported Moonlighting without compromising productivity and efficiency standards, and respecting the company’s ethics and morals.
However, even a section of the startup industry is also not voting in favor of moonlighting.
UpGrad founder Ronnie Screwvala discourages moonlighting and is in opposition to its practice as it has a huge potential of diverting employees from their end goal.
Finlabs, a Fintech startup considers moonlighting a contravention of professional integrity and a breach of trust.
Edtech unicorn Emeritus has accepted to allow its employees to take up side jobs under transparency conditions and as long as the company is kept in the loop.
Steve Wozniak, who designed the first Apple computers while working at HP, is an oft-cited global example who did full-time jobs while laying the ground for their ventures/ start-ups.
As per the PWC survey,34% of respondents in India believe they are very likely to switch to a new employer as compared to 19 % globally. 37% of Millennials are most likely to seek new employment in the next 12 months.
Probable Reasons For Moonlighting
We see moonlighting as a phenomenon arising from two crucial reasons: either the employee isn’t satisfied with the job, notably the pay scale but can’t leave it so they are looking at alternate sources of financial gain and the scope of learning for the employee has utterly diminished.
Kavita Kurup, Global Head of HR at UST says that the overnight shift to remote working helped people get rid of long commutes and brought more fluid work schedules. For many, it yielded new opportunities, primarily because of mismatched expectations.
Other factors to blame for: financial stability in an increasingly precarious job market, looking for creative satisfaction, Gain Additional Work Experience, To Combat Boredom, Have More to Spend in historic inflation, stuck promotion, etc.
An Echo Of Change in Company Policy
Swiggy, a leading food delivery platform, recently announced the industry’s 1st moonlighting policy by allowing employees to work on other projects after their scheduled working hours, under certain conditions.
Global HRtech firm HackerEarth which counts Amazon, and Microsoft among its clients don’t officially have a documented policy that says no to moonlighting.
India’s leading HR firm, TeamLease HRtech does not have any policy against moonlighting and claims it holds a very liberal view as moonlighting is not even an issue at all.
Global scenario: Technically permissible in the US and the UK from a tax perspective.
In Brief
While the idea reflects a practical recognition of the changing nature of white-collar jobs and allowing moonlighting is seen as a positive indicator for the hiring process or for attracting highly skilled talent.
Maintaining a conducive environment for employees to grow and learn, understanding their needs, creating specialized opportunities for them both in terms of remuneration, and discovering new learning curves assume greater precedence and if implemented well can prevent moonlighting.
Keep in mind, Moonlighting can cause an employee’s physical and emotional needs to be out of balance but instead of resisting the trend, there should be more transparency and flexibility for employers and employees to make a conscious choice and that will also boost the ‘psychological contract’ between both of them.
