Is moonlighting opportunity or threat

Covid 19 also known as Chinese virus has changed the life of individuals as well as way of doing business. Culture of “work from home” was introduced and boosted on a large scale. Many employees figured out that they have extra time and can utilize it to earn more money. They started to work for other companies after their regular shifts. Since they were working from home, they did not find it difficult to manage more than one job. And in this way Moonlight came into picture .

What is moonlighting?

In simple words. If you are hired by a company and you are also working with one or more other companies part-time/full-time. It is called moonlighting. If you are doing any other job after your normal office hours to earn some extra perks then it is moonlighting.

Is moonlighting a new trend in work culture?

• What is Work Culture?: Work culture is the working environment that includes attitudes, behaviours and beliefs. Work culture is planned as per the company goals and objectives. When an employee joins a company he sees the work culture before joining. For example in some companies you will find you need to follow fixed in and out time whereas in some companies you will see flexible timings. Some companies follow a dress code whereas some companies allow casual dress.
• Is moonlight a new trend: This is a debatable topic. Some companies are welcoming the moonlight and some are completely against moonlight.

 Examples of Moonlighting

• Pizza, Swiggy or Zomato Delivery Boy/Girl: Most of the Pizza, swiggy or zomato delivery are doing part time jobs there. They have joined it to earn extra money or utilise their time.
• Working as a freelancer along with a regular job: Websites like freelancers, hire4u and fiverr are very good platforms to get freelancing jobs. You can do it just by remaining in your home. All the delivery and payments are online.

Is moonlighting legal or illegal?

Considering India there is no such law at the national level or state level which says moonlight is illegal. But there are policies in companies which are signed by the employees as contracts which do not allow moon light. Companies have even the right to fire the employee if they are found in moonlight. There are companies like Swiggy which allow moonlight or a second job after their regular shift with some conditions.

Why do people do moonlighting?

• Earn more money: The main reason behind moonlight is earning more money. Employees are not happy with their current salary. They need more money. So employees are seeking a second job.
• Learn new skills: Some employees are bored from the same activities. They want to try something different. They choose a second job with different skills so that they can have some change in life and learn some new skills.
• Utilize their free time: Some employees have more free time after their 9-5 job. They don’t want to sit idle so they choose a second job option.
• For their Hobby: Everyone does not enter their favorite field. So once employees are stable financially they try to fulfil their hobbies. For example many of the salaried people prefer to do blogging or vlogging as a hobby. They also earn a good amount of perks from these media.

Why are companies opposing moonlighting?

• Moonlighting in the same industry is cheating: If the employee is doing moonlight in the same industry then it is against the work ethics. Employee loses his trustability and importance. Doing this, the employer can fire the employee without any notice. If the contract between employer and employee states for single employment then also moonlight is not allowed and will be treated as cheating with company policy..
• Against the privacy of a company: In today’s tech world information is very costly. If the employee is involved in moonlighting then chances of transfer of business secrets are higher. No company wants to share their  skills or knowledge with their competitors.
• Effect of current productivity: Most of the big tech owners believe that if the employee is involved in moonlight then it will affect his productivity of current job role. His concentration and dedication towards job will be divided.

Is moonlighting an opportunity or threat?

How can companies make profits from Moonlighting?

Moonlighters are cheaper: compared to regular employees, moonlighters are cheaper. You can hire moonlighters from any country at the very best price.

Moonlighters are willing to work in flexible hours: Depending upon the project requirements you can make moonlighters to work in preferred time slots.

Moonlighters can be future businessmen: this platform is capable of giving new businessmen to the country. If they succeed then it will also create more employment. This is good from a country perspective.

What are the recent actions taken by corporates against moonlighting

• Recently Wipro has taken back the jobs of 300 employees who were found involved in moonlighting. They were working with competitors along with a full time job in Wipro. Rishad Premji (Chairman, Wipro) said we do not need such employees in our organization.
• Infosys reminded their employees to read their joining letter carefully. It also gave warning that an employee can be discontinued if found involved in moonlight.

Conclusion

Employers and Employees both have their separate view to see the Moonlight situation. We can not tell anyone right or wrong. While doing Moonlight employees need to take care that it should not be related to their current job. Employers should also try to understand the financial need of the employees and should allow moonlight with some conditions. Employers and Employers should try to see all the positive points of Moonlighting and try to gain maximum profits without making anyone in loss.