There has been much froth and foam across rooms and boardrooms regarding the ethics, legality and appropriateness of the practice of working for one organization while also taking up extra responsibilities and jobs with another. As a trend, it is becoming commonplace in the IT and ITeS space. This is welcome. It makes sense to encourage more flexibility to employees if these firms want to move up the value chain. So, employers should accept the reality and use it to their advantage.
But genuine concerns against 'side-hustles' must be addressed. During the pandemic, the IT sectors swiftly adapted to ork from home (WFH), and professionals furthered their professional practice. Many preferred continuing WHF. But that raised the suspcision of many employers about workers taking up a second job to earn more. Meanwhile, a shapr rise in demand for IT professionals with new skills, and their shortage, widened the demand supply gap. Those who could not cope with the expectations - at the entry or middle levels - were fired. But the gig economy provides choices and added competition to both employer and employee.
Trust is a core issue. Conflicts of interest and intellectual property rights violations are non-negotiable. Other aspects - fatigue impacting productivity, short-term vs long-term engagements in two jobs, skill acquisition, difficulty in monitoring beyond delivery of a defined output, the challenge to objectively measure output for a given compensation, peer-pressure, industry trends in employment contracts - also influence the attitude towards moonlighthing.
But IT professionals can't be treated as captives. The industry must set the bar for high performance and productivity, yet in trusted working conditions that rewards fairly and reconginzes performancve and skills in a transparent way. A fair and broad-based definition of moonlighting must be included in the employment contract. A sound HR policy anchored in ethical management principles will ensure that there is no need to howl at moon-lightining.
The practice of working for one organization while also taking up extra responsibilities and job with another requires.
A. Trust
B. Conflict of interest.
C. Stagnation of employee growth.
D. Employees adding limited value to their parent organization.
E. Intellectual property rights.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below.
Correct Answer: (a) A, B, E only
Solution:The practice of working for one organization while also taking up extra responsibilities and job with another requires trust, conflict of Interest and Intellectual property rights.