Do Indian IT employees find moonlighting favourable?

Amid the growing debate on moonlighting, a new report has revealed that 43 per cent of employees in the Indian IT sector find moonlighting favourable.

The top reasons why employees work outside their jobs are to safeguard against job loss and supplement their incomes.

However, employers have a different view of this tendency as 31 per cent believe that employees moonlight because they are not adequately engaged in their work and 23 per cent believe that employees have ample time on hand for a second job, according to the findings from quarterly hiring tracker by job platform Indeed.

“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,” said Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India.

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Most moonlighting situations that may require an employer to develop a moonlighting policy occur when the moonlighting employee has a “primary”, usually full-time position, and a “secondary”, or part-time position.

Overall, the report showed that less than one out of five employees (19 per cent) surveyed want to moonlight in India, with a large majority of employees (81 per cent) saying they do not wish to take up another job alongside the one they currently work in, citing it as unethical.

In most sectors, a large percentage of employees feel moonlighting is unethical and violates the contract. This is seen in sectors like healthcare and pharmaceutical (70 per cent of employees), FMCG (71 per cent) and manufacturing (79 per cent) echo similar beliefs about moonlighting.
Similarly, quiet quitting is another trend that has arisen due to employee stress and burnout.

“In the past few weeks, there have also been several global uncertainties that have led to layoffs across the globe. Amidst this, it’s important for employers to relook at their workplace culture and address the underlying issues that are driving such trends,” said Kumar.