In today’s world where prices of everything are rising with every passing day because of market inflation. Earning a good sum of money that not only helps you to run your family but also allows you to fulfill some of your wishes or long-desired dreams is quite tough. For many people due to certain medical conditions in their families or some home loans to be paid or just for fulfilling their dreams, their salaries and payment do not provide them enough. Such people always try to search for any and every opportunity that helps them to earn more and more. This need or greed to be able to earn more and more has given the rise to moonlighting! 

And I believe everyone reading this article would have probably heard the term “moonlighting” in the last few days. But what is moonlighting, and why is it constantly in the news? Have you ever wondered what is causing all the fuss surrounding this word? If you are one of the mysterious Moonlighters or if you are a novice who is capable of comprehending the true issue. One of the trendiest subjects rising online over the past week is Moonlighting in jobs which we’ve chosen to discuss in our article today. Be sure to read the entire article to know all about the fuss created all around the corporate world. Let’s begin-

What is Moonlighting?

Undoubtedly, many of our readers would have surely read or heard about the word. According to the definition of the dictionary, the term refers to a task or a job that is typically carried out at night. Mr. Moon has also dabbled in it for this reason. Jokes aside!

Moonlighting is essentially a job that is done in most cases secretly at night while a person goes to his or her office and works there during the day like any other day. However, why and how has this matter come under scrutiny? You must have been considering it, Do not worry; we will also explain how and why this became a subject of examination. Why has moonlighting been causing a lot of ruckuses all over the corporates and why did Wipro fire more than 300 employees for this reason?

The term moonlighting came into the limelight in the year 2020 when covid was at its peak in the country. On the one hand where Covid-19 bought misery and sadness to the lives of us humans. On the other hand, it bought some of those never expected changes in the traditional professional world. Just two years back no one would have ever imagined that there will come a day when we will be able to work from our homes, Noone would have ever thought they will be able to connect all around the world and d their work in their Pajamas. Have you ever thought such a thing happening? I for sure can say most of the answers would be a big no. But all thanks to the creators of the Internet and different applications who with their services made this dream-like thing possible into a reality.

Moonlighting came into the limelight around two years back, this term as denoted above is a secret job that people usually carried out at night. Moonlighting became a serious concern when two years back Hrs tracked multiple active Provident Fund Accounts off a Bangalore-based person who worked for some other companies at night. This matter back then bought up with itself a very serious question mark on the ethics and code of conduct of employees of various It Firms and  Corporate Giants.

Was Moonlighting ever prevalent in India before 

The question above is a sharp and curious one to say. Moonlighting has been prevalent in India but where Your mind would have asked for sure. We all have seen it. Our maids, carpenters, drivers, cleaners, and many other people in similar job roles have been doing many types of work to sustain their income and their household. All thanks to the media attention that made Moonlightjing a big deal but this has been prevalent in India for quite a time.

This aspect of moonlighting created an image that people who are unable to meet their needs from their first jobs try to do moonlighting. In the traditional media debates and newspaper columns taking up another was subjected as a failure of one’s hard work and work compliance concerning the markets. But, since the evolution of work culture after Covid and the arrival of Gen z in the market things have changed on a bigger scale. Gen Z and millennials want to earn as much as they could. Many of them do come up with a dream to retire soon than the earlier generations that too with a lot of money.

How Moonlighting is possible in today’s world?

For many of us, Moonlighting is new to read or listen but trust me, this practice has been in our society for a long time. In the past few years, Moonlighting became more popular because of flexibility in work culture due to Covid Lockdowns. When most parts of the world were locked within their homes apart from having their regular income many people started to work on different projects as moonlighters that are they worked in the morning in their regular offices but did other work to get some additional income in the nighttime. One of the most brutal truths about the corporate world in India is for decades, the Salary structure of the employees has not been revised in years. 

Then there is another factor that affects the world of corporate and industries very highly that factor is none other than n Generational gap. It is a well-known fact that India comprises the most number of youth all over the world and we do need to remember that India itself is one of the fastest growing countries when it comes to human birth as well means every 9-10 years a new workforce with totally different mindsets, goals, ambitions, behavior, understanding of their environment enters into the workforce. These factors were much more accelerated by the factor of the Pandemic that made the Gen Z workforce or the millennials workforce search for other options to generate an additional source of income for themselves. Also, the availability of different resources like the Internet, Video calling apps, and Freelancing websites have made it very easier for people to work in a second-place secretly. Most of the techies in the It Industry are seen using their hidden skills and filling their pockets with that extra money that they earn secretly.

Why are employees Moonlighting?

The issue of moonlighting comprises the biggest question is Why, and What is the need of practicing moonlighting by the employees. In the past two years, many IT Companies have found their employees moonlighting. The exact figure of these secret moonlighters all across the different industries is still unknown. It is also not known about the exact figures at which level employees are involved in Moonlighting. Are they people from the junior level, middle level, or the higher ones at managerial levels?

It is expected the secret moonlighters are most of the time from entry-level who live in major big cities where the cost of living is pretty expensive and everyone is not able to pay rent, afford, food, and after all those expenditures save money for their dreams and needs. Staying at home and working on different projects would have surely helped them to gain experience as well as money part plays a major role for sure.

Also, there is a large sect of people under debt, financial crisis, and health crisis who take up moonlighting. Then comes the third category of people who want to follow their passion, and are looking for a career change or an alternate option. They also tend to move towards Moonlighting.

Moonlighting from a Legal perspective

When it comes to legal perception, Moonlighting is Nowhere mentioned under law. We have no rules at present that whether it is feasible for an employee to do another secret job or not. Organically, if we look at the issue the jobs that require a person to be present in the person all during his/her office hours would never allow the person to go for another irrespective of their personal lives. 

Although under Section 60 of the Factories Act 1948- Factory adult workers are strictly prohibited to take up another job, If they belong to the industry. Never try to go for another or second job apart from your original place of employment.

In a recent report, published by Economic Times, it was said- that many of the companies have contacted many law firms to regulate their practices by some checks and balance methods. But if you are a person who is working for a company and you signed a bond or a clause that denotes you cannot work at any other place if you are working at a particular place, then always remember it is a Big NO to pursue anything apart from the job you are in. It might land you in court if you try to break those clauses and notions.

Advantages of Moonlighting

The practice that suddenly has become the center point of the limelight in the world of different social media platforms, might surely have some advantages that have resulted in its sudden increase. Although in many companies this practice is unethical but like every coin has two sides, Moonlighting does have too. The advantages that are widely famous of moonlighting are as follows-

  • More Finance equals More Authority- We all know for sure, Money cannot buy happiness but it does surely buy products or things that give us happiness and eventually leads to happiness. That is the more money you have the more you can spend on your happiness. Hence having an additional source of income offers you to save more as well you can spend well too.
  • Gaining New Skills- Moonlighting is also a good way to upgrade your skillset as doing one particular job over years makes you proficient in only one talk whereas multiple tasks make you multitalented and trust me we all should try to be generalists instead of being specialists as it helps to grow more.
  • Building New Connection- According to an online survey, the number of connections you have helps you to grow faster and it even increases the chances of your promotions and well-being in both personal and professional life. Doing moonlighting helps to develop new connections which if treated well would help you to land in better places and opportunities.
  • More Flexibility and employment security- Moonlighting jobs are the ones that in most cases are flexible ones that is these jobs allow the moonlighters to work at their pace and time availability. The projects if submitted by the deadline are all that is to be remembered.

Disadvantages of Moonlighting

  • Poor attention on the work assigned- Working in multiple results in losing focus and attention ultimately results in poor productivity in any of the jobs a person works for.
  • Declining Mental Health- We can surely opt for different ways to earn more but we need to remember that our human body has a limit, after that certain limit we cannot work. If we take up a lot of tasks we might end up being depressed and confused as to what to do when resulting in declining Mental health.
  • Loss of your Original Jobs- Being so overloaded with work might result in your termination. Recently, the world saw how Wipro terminated its 300 employees for practicing moonlighting. The chairman also termed the practice Cheating.
  • Disbalance in Personal and Professional Life-  Doing multiple tasks for many hours might give you money but at times, it is not feasible for everyone to carry out multiple tasks and take up multiple things for quite a long time, this practice might result in disruptions in your personal life as well. You won’t be able to pay attention to your family properly and eventually this all will result in disbalance in your life.
  • Leakage of Private Data and Confidential Information-  In many cases some employees were sene leaking private and confidential information to other companies and their competitors for sake of money. All this at a large scale will harm the company and its organization badly. Hence, Moonlighting becomes very dangerous in such cases.

Companies and their views on Moonlighting-

  • Swiggy in a recent statement said- It will allow its employees to do another after their prescribed work hours. They are developing their work policies for the betterment of their employees.
  • Wipro recently laid off 300 employees for Moonlighting and CEO termed the practice as cheating.
  • TCS Ceo has also supported Moonlighting and said their company is also making its policies flexible in compliance with both company and employees and they will allow moonlighting after some time and development of the much-awaited policies on the same.
  • CRED is also seen supporting the moonlighting practice.
  • When it comes to government Minister of State for Electronics and IT Chandrashekar says- Companies stopping employees from taking up something else apart from their jobs reduces the chances of their success.

In conclusion- 

Moonlighting is not a bad practice until and unless it harms someone; be it the company you originally employed or your moonlight work employer. We live in an era where not everyone can be employed in the government due to the high population, increasing cutoffs in various examinations, reservations, and lack of skills needed. 

When it comes to private organizations and companies, they do have something to offer to every person who wants to enter the job market. It is evident that for many of the posts these companies only ask graduation for employment which means the equal opportunity is given to all irrespective of the field you have studied and have been in. But also, this is a truth that companies do mass hiring, wages of employees have not been revised for many years and companies most of the time also lay off a lot of employees which leaves them all alone on verge of financial crises.

 It needs to be remembered that we as an individual should always maintain ethics and our moral values so that we may not harm anyone in process of earning money. What are your opinions on moonlighting do tell us. For more exciting articles and information make sure to hit us up. Till then Take care!