I first came across the term ‘‘moonlighting’’ from Karen Victoria, a German national, who was my senior at an organisation dedicated to the advocacy of internet freedom and security. The term came into context when she was proposing the possibility of switching over from the organisation. 

This was more than a decade ago when ‘moonlighting’ had not even entered public discourse as it has now in the coveted information technology (IT) industry.

It took me a while to understand Victoria’s offer. She had played a vital role in handholding and mentoring me and promised to keep the pact a secret between the two of us. Thus, I would continue to do the important work I was doing with her even after I took up a new job with a different company. 

This was years before the onset of the pandemic and the ‘work from home’ culture that is widely prevalent now, which is a necessity for some and a convenience for others. I was glad that I could earn some top-up money to fund my fancy expenses and agreed without a second thought. 

My new company was a different industry altogether and there was no visible conflict of interest. The interesting part of this was not just that my boss would still give me assignments, but what she prophetically said. She correctly gauged the economics of future job situations and said that ‘moonlighting’ would be common some years down the line across the globe. 

Her words came completely true within a span of a few years with the onset of the pandemic and the rise in opportunities for employees to explore diverse assignments while being employed even full-time.

While the Indian economy has steadily grown in the post-liberalisation years and emerged into one of the world’s fastest growing and largest economies, the growth not just entail rise in incomes and wealth but also a concomitant surge of inflation and cost of living. With aged parents, wife, and kids to look after, money mattered a lot and hence I continued incognito in the dual roles. Although my close friends cautioned me against it, I continued with my endeavours.

The facets of ‘moonlighting’ 

‘Moonlighting’ meant not just the extra moolah coming into the bank account. It entailed a blend of both the money as well as the skill sets that they could hone through the extra work they do whenever possible. 

‘Moonlighting’ in recent times came into the spotlight when the food aggregator, Swiggy, began allowing its employees to do side hustles, thereby opening the Pandora’s Box. Companies, especially from the information technology sector, in contrast, started crying wolf citing conflict of interest and terming the whole practice as “unethical.” Rishad Premji, the head of Wipro, slammed ‘moonlighting’ as “cheating” with his company being among the first to lay off employees in dual roles. 

Former Karnataka minister Shri Ashwath Narayan also vehemently opposed the practice of ‘moonlighting’. “Paid freelancing beyond office hours is literally cheating and professionals wanting to do so should shift out of Karnataka,” he was quoted remarking. 

Premji and Narayan’s views have had many backers, especially from the managements of global companies which feared that their employees may leak sensitive business information and data to rival companies.

Giving his views on ‘moonlighting’, a senior human resource manager from an IT company opined that when a potential candidate is offered a job it is spelt out clearly in the appointment order that he or she shall not take up any part-time work without the express consent of the management. Any employee found to be in violation of the terms and conditions would be terminated from service and the company also holds the right to proceed legally if need be.

Mumbai-based Kartik Nagarajan who works for a leading global firm as a senior managerial functionary echoed a similar view. According to him, a person doing ‘moonlighting’ will do so at their own risk. Even if one wants to take up a second job then the best practice is to take written consent from where they are working full time. When approval is not granted, then they must desist from any attempt to take side hustles from the second firm, Nagarajan opined.  

Nonetheless, ‘moonlighting’ has been an age-old practice that has been prevalent across sectors. For example, a doctor working in a hospital may treat patients in a private clinic or at his home. A lawyer employed in a legal firm would do documentation work either individually or in partnership with somebody else. A teacher in a public school would give tuitions or a worker in the government or private sector may have his own business that they take care of simultaneously when being employed.

Digitalization and work-from-home culture gave rise to a whole new set of possibilities wherein a full-time employee could take up jobs without the knowledge of his employer. 

So how do people ‘moonlighting’ safeguard themselves? How do companies track down dual employment? There are some ways in which this could happen.

The provident fund database was found to be one method. With UAN it was easier for the employer to track down employees who were receiving multiple amounts in their EPF account. Another possibility is the payroll agent for both companies being the same with a higher probability of the agency knowing the case and leaking the proof to the company.

Employees on their part try to safeguard their interests by receiving funds either in cash, in the form of gifts, or into their spouse’s account, etc. In cases such as these, tracking would be highly difficult. 

Money matters

I recently booked a cab to travel from Dilshad Garden to Lajpat Nagar in Delhi. It was a long journey; though sleepy I was drawn to a conversation my cab driver was having on the phone with someone. He was explaining coding and many new technologies while driving the cab. It was a surprise when I got to know that he was an IT professional working in a very reputable firm.

“It is my off day, my wife lost her job recently and I have parents to look after besides one school-going kid,” he told me. “The money that I earn from my regular job is not enough to meet household expenses. I cannot steal or borrow money; I never do that. So, I do ‘moonlighting’ and I do not see any wrong with it. I earn about Rs 60,000 from my regular job and some Rs 25,000 by driving my vehicle in my spare time.”

Examples are many as most people do it in one way or another. Those who get caught become thieves while the rest move around with their heads held high. With the ongoing geo-political situation, fears of stagflation, economic slowdown, and loss of jobs, it is pertinent that we have a good backup. It could be a part-time job or a business, or even a hobby that may fetch money which is the need of the hour.

Why industries need to adapt

With Europe and the US staring at recession, many large firms such as Microsoft, Google, Twitter, Facebook, and many others are downsizing their workforce, which buttresses the argument that ‘moonlighting’ may be considered a new norm, point out those who do it. 

Paid assignments beyond office working hours ought to be permitted and companies should not find any harm in this practice when one is not working with a competitor. Also, it is about enhancing one’s own skill sets on several learning platforms and by working in a different set-up. You add diversity to the workforce something which is useful even for one’s main job, mulls a senior HR manager giving a different view. 

On the other hand, even if ‘moonlighting’ is acceptable at least to some sections, there is always the option of freelancing. It could be a short-term project or a long-term one that can expand your portfolio while giving you some extra income. Freelancing will also help employees to boost their performance at work as well by channelizing their creative energies into the final output for their main job role, says a corporate communication professional on condition of anonymity. 

The complexities and impulses

As far as the law is concerned there is no straitjacket formula on dual employment. For example, if a person works in any government or private sector job during the daytime, he may perhaps sell vegetables on the roadside during the evening hours. How you could make him liable for these dual roles, says an agent working with a recruiting firm.

People earn money from the stock market, mutual funds, online betting platforms, etc. even when they are regular employees. The interesting aspect is that many do so even during office hours. How would you then hold them accountable, points out an analyst working with an insurance firm?

The case for ‘moonlighting’

Primary income, secondary income and tertiary incomes are the need of the hour. Things have changed with digitalization and companies need to look past whether their employees are making extra income through legal or dubious means. 

Once they are outside company premises and work hours it is their world and what they do in their personal lives is of nobody’s concern, says another HR manager. There are several legal ways of making money, it is an art and you need to master it to survive in this costly world, he stresses further. 

As per research done by Indeed, one of the leading job portals, 31 percent of employers believe that employees moonlight as they are not adequately engaged in their work and 23 percent believe that employees have enough time to do a second job. “The pandemic has made employees step back and reevaluate priorities. In an era where talent is valued more than ever, employers are shifting from a focus on employee experience to employee life experience,” Satish Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India was quoted in an article published in the Business Standard.

When firms terminate someone from employment, they never care about whether they would get an alternative job quickly, how their families will survive, nor does the government care about individuals. Once you are unemployed the salary savings, provident fund, and everything else will be spent quickly. How can you meet your daily needs, so a backup is very much a necessity, either extra work or some business through which one can get funds into his bank account? 

We are living in an era of inflation and gone are the old days of depending on one person’s income to run families, hence, we should give a thumbs up to ‘moonlighting’.