The topic of moonlighting has been going around the Indian employee sector for quite some time now. Employees and general people seem to be for it or at least see no problem doing it within certain guidelines, however, most of the IT companies and their heads are severely against it, terming it as ‘unethical’ or more.
Moonlighting is a practice where employees take up secondary jobs besides their full-time ones in a particular company.
Not long ago in August, Wipro’s executive chairman Rishad Premji had tweeted that “There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple.”
The debate has once again popped up after a tweet was posted on how exactly Wipro administration got to know of the 300 employees that had been moonlighting and were subsequently fired for.
What Is Up With Wipro?
In September 2022, at the 46th All-India Management Association (AIMA) convention, Rishad Premji had revealed how his company had fired 300 employees who were found to be moonlighting.
He’d said “The reality is that there are people today working for Wipro and working directly for one of our competitors and we have actually discovered 300 people in the last few months who are doing exactly that,” adding that this was “complete violation of integrity in its deepest form.”
This was not taken well at that time either, prompting massive discussions around moonlighting and what employees could do in their own time when they were not at work. Business Today quoted a worker in the tech industry saying “This decision is not right, firing over moonlighting. What is the basis, the contract? Writing something in a contract does not make it right. If there is no conflict of interest, why should there be a problem?
Anyone can do anything in their free time. Plus, people may need other sources of income for a number of reasons, including to support their family. If moonlighting does not hurt their performance in the current job, where is the harm?”
In a Business Today report, it was also found that Wipro’s employment contracts allowed its employees to have secondary employment after getting the permission from their Business Unit Head.
The tweet that now is going viral over how exactly Wipro found the moonlighting employees has once again ignited the debate around the topic.
This has led to a fierce backlash from people who believe that the IT sector and its payscale towards the employees. Many people commented that employees only moonlight in extreme conditions and raised questions about how fair and ethical the payscale is of these companies towards their employees.
Read More: Does Work From Home Have An Impact On Your Promotions?
There are certainly many who don’t really see an issue with moonlighting given the current economic conditions of the country. Stating reasons like how the COVID pandemic made life much more difficult for those on a budget or the earning people and how moonlighting has been a way that many have been able to keep their lifestyle.
Others said that if companies had a fair pay and raise system, then probably their employees would not feel the need to moonlight.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature Image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: Hindustan Times, Moneycontrol, Business Today
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This post is tagged under: wipro Moonlighting, moonlighting cheating, moonlighting, rishad premji, side gigs, side jobs, Wipro, wipro executive, wipro’s premji called moonlighting cheating, work from home, moonlighting ethical, moonlighting tcs, moonlighting debate, wipro, wipro employees, wipro employees moonlighting
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