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The Upsurge in Employee Moonlighting in the Tech Industry

The Upsurge in Employee Moonlighting in the Tech Industry

The Indian IT corporate industry has been abuzz with debates about moonlighting or two-time jobs by employees over the past few weeks. Taking up second jobs tend among corporate employees has been drastically increasing, which is being opposed by employers. In simple terms, employee moonlighting is the practice of performing additional jobs along with the primary one. The Covid-19 pandemic ushered in an era of remote working that eventually brought-forth the moonlighting in the tech industry. Moonlighting has entered its foot as a new profession among professionals to bring in more than fixed ones by taking up side projects. IT firms have been experiencing an exponential rise in employee moonlighting, adversely affecting their productivity and profitability. Considering this fact, several IT companies have started pushing back against the notion of employees moonlighting, resulting in employee layoffs. 

In this write-up, we’ll thoroughly demystify the scenario of the employee moonlighting, which is considered the biggest cheat from the employee’s end. Let’s get started with the blog: 

A Tremendous Rise in the Employees’ Sacking amid Moonlighting Trend

The top-level leading IT firms meticulously scrutinize their employees amid the moonlighting trend for joining hands with other companies without prior approval from them. This side hustle has drastically escalated since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic due to the rise in the cost of living. 

Wipro Ltd has laid off approximately 300 employees for moonlighting. Even though several other tech industries have been sacking their employees because of taking up the secondary after-work hours for extra income. Rishad Premji, the chairman of the Wipro company, said that they have no room for the employees who are taking up the freelancing projects while being on Wipro payrolls. According to them, moonlighting is a complete violation of integrity that can’t be settled down at any cost in our tech business. Besides, several other IT firms like Infosys warn their employees against moonlighting, which is the most significant cheating from the employee’s end. 

Also Read: Everything You Need to Know About Interview as a Service

The Rationale behind the Tremendous Rise in the Numbers of Moonlighting Employees

As per the industry research reports, employees are attracted to moonlighting due to the following reasons mentioned below: 

  • To grab the new skills, thereby enhancing their experience level. 
  • To address the boredom in their life.
  • To pursue their passion & dream goals. 
  • To earn extra income. 

Positive Sides of Allowing the Moonlighting in the Corporate Sector

Some employers favor the moonlighting era because of the following reasons: 

  1. Employee Career Advancement with New Skills: Some employers are not against moonlighters as they state that candidates learn new skills and sophisticated technologies. Aside from this, they learn to think unconventionally from a 360-degree perspective, which leads them to the era of creativity. Eventually, all these skills help their company reach new heights of success. 
  2. Cutting-Edge Strategy for Employee Retainment: Allowing moonlighting the companies enables an employee to feel satisfied in the organization as they earn extra income to live their dream life. Most noteworthy, a decades-long professional know how to oversee the work burden like a piece of cake, which makes them successful in both primary and secondary job. This way, retaining capable and skilled employees in the company becomes seamless. 

Also Read: InCruiter And Taggd Unite To Streamline Hiring And Boost Workforce

Downsides of Allowing Moonlighting in the Corporate Sector

The work-from-home policies on rising of the Covid-19 pandemic have given birth to moonlighting, which has eventually become one of the most knotty challenges for the business. They have been coming up against various compounded stumbling blocks concerning productivity, ultimately leading to revenue loss. Here we have compiled some downsides of allowing moonlighting in the business: 

  1. Significant Slippage in the Employee’s Performance: When employees work all day and night on digital screens, they may end up with mind conflicts or frustration that eventually lead to an immense loss in productivity. Employees are supposed to give their full-time attention even post the office working hours. As a result, the revenue challenges also keep rising, which often stops the growth of businesses. 
  2. The Emergence of Health Issues in the Employees: If a company allows moonlighting, the life of the employees will become hectic in response to the 24X7 work. It is evident that after working 9 hours in the office, they will sacrifice their sleep which will further cause health issues among them. Consequently, the health problems won’t let them deliver productive work in their primary job. 
  3. Lack of Attentiveness: When employees get indulged in moonlighting, they may need to perform multiple tasks, resulting in distractions and an unhealthy mind. As a result, employees can’t emphasize the primary job roles and responsibilities with appropriate attention. 

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Key Takeaways

Considering the above write-up, we have observed that there has been a structural shift in the minds of today’s young corporate generation, which has emerged the moonlighting concept. Remote working has brought the dual employment era in the corporate sector. However, it entirely depends on the employers whether they allow their employees to work as a moonlighter. Every coin has two sides; likewise, moonlighting has positive and negative effects. Some IT companies are vehemently against moonlighting, while others think it should be allowed with specific guidelines. So, what are your contemplations after going through this article on Employee Moonlighting? Should IT firms pin down their employees for moonlighting? Share your opinions below in the comments section!!

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Rakesh Kashyap

Rakesh Kashyap

Rakesh Kashyap is a seasoned technical content writer with more than five years of experience creating clear, insightful and SEO optimized content for technology driven businesses. At InCruiter, he develops high quality articles, product documentation and strategic content that support the company's mission of simplifying and modernizing hiring. With a strong background in technical writing and content strategy across multiple organizations, he specializes in turning complex ideas into accessible, well structured narratives. His work focuses on HR tech, hiring innovation and content best practices, helping readers understand key industry trends through practical and engaging writing.

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