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Following uproar among IT companies on many workers indulging in moonlighting, Wipro had warned against it and now took stern action firing 300 employees for moonlighting with its key rivals at the same time.
Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji said in Wednesday that the “reality is that there are people today working for Wipro and working directly for one of our competitors and we have actually discovered 300 people in the last few months who are doing exactly that.”
Speaking at the All India Management Association (AIMA) National Management Convention, Premji reiterated that moonlighting is a complete violation of integrity “in its deepest form.” Wipro has now terminated their employment for “act of integrity violation”.
Premji recently said that the concept of a second job to the regular job is “plain and simple” cheating. “There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating — plain and simple,” he had tweeted.
There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple.
— Rishad Premji (@RishadPremji) August 20, 2022
As the issue of moonlighting or working elsewhere to make extra money in India is plaguing many tech giants after the Work From Home concession that entailed them work remotely, several Indian tech giants are facing the challenge to keep their workforce committed and focused.
The ethical issue has been raised by tech services giant Infosys first, followed by cloud Major IBM last Wednesday. Infosys has already made it clear that the practice is not ethical and the company may fire those who are moonlighting.
Rishad Premji
However, Wipro has become the first to fire its employees who are moonlighting. Infosys, IBM are still pondering the issue though they are with the industry against moonlighting.
IBM Managing Director Sandip Patel said, “All of our workers when they are employed, they sign an agreement which says that they are going to be working full-time for IBM. So moonlighting is not ethically right for them to get into.”
However, some startups are encouraging employees to opt for moonlighting or work outside their primary working hours. Swiggy has encouraged the practice but the traditional companies are calling it cheating and unethical and issued warning to employees from practising Moonlighting even in extra hours.
In one case, a techie who was interviewed by a Hyderabad-based company and hired in turn hired another techie to work on his behalf, while he is engaged in working on other projects. He has been summarily fired now but the issue has brought to light the glaring anomaly in misuse of a pact with the company.
Infosys has already warned employees that involvement in such practice can result in “disciplinary action including termination of employment”. “No two-timing, no moonlighting”, the company said in an internal memo.
