IT COMPANIES OPPOSING MOONLIGHTING OR SIMPLY CUTTING COSTS?

In India, moonlighting is the way forward, companies need to recognize this. Disallowing people to work two jobs without violating their contract is deplorable.

It would have been eradicated by now if moonlighting was a pandemic, since everyone moonlights. The gig economy in the US, the UK, and the EU relies on people taking on two or more jobs and working on wages to make ends meet. In India, moonlighting has been blown out of proportion not only in blue-collared jobs but also in white-collared jobs. For the uninitiated, moonlighting is working two jobs.

As legal systems warm up to the crisis, moonlighting will also be considered infidelity, but not with your romantic partner but with your employer. Indian laws no longer penalise adultery because it is their life.

Despite our claims to be free, our employment at the skeleton is based on a master-servant relationship. In a master-servant relationship, one can't sign a contract without the explicit consent of a former master. In India, IT companies like Wipro, Tata, and Infosys are crying foul over moonlighting. The day every employee realises this, the game will change.

In contrast to Tata and Infosys, which have limited their stance to merely warnings in public appearances and emails, Wipro terminated 300 employees suspected of moonlighting. In fact, this instance alone will give us a better understanding of the situation because it is a rushed and poor judgement.

It is clear that Wipro's move of firing 300 employees is not for moonlighting but for cost-cutting, calling it so to deflect shareholders and the market at large so as to avoid signalling any upcoming dip in its financials. It makes sense to connect the dots to the mass layoffs in India in 2022, when companies like Meesho, Byju's, Netflix, Lido, Microsoft, and others laid off workers to cut costs.

People didn't moonlight; they probably worked two or more jobs, but how is that unethical or unfair when specific charges could not be proven against those employees? Yes, there is some speculation that these 300 moonlighters have been tracked by Wipro's competitors through their Provident Fund (PF) deposits. Did any gig worker work after office hours if all of these 300 workers were working with 300 Wipro competitors or just one? How have the gig workers been tracked? Have they been monitored? If Wipro is frightened of its competitors, its competitors are also scared of Wipro; that's the competitor mindset. So how have they been employed? Do moonlighters get PF for part-time work?

Indian tech talent is helping India revive its brand image essential for India's future, as Indian technologists in the IT sector are a first choice for startups and enterprises working in the Industry 4.0 space.

Isn't it only now that Indian corporations are trying to make mental health mainstream when this workforce loses its morale, which is systematically pushing them towards mental illnesses?