Moonlighting Boon or Bane… Special Reference to India

Abstract

Now a days ‘Moonlighting’ is a concept gaining momentum for research, even though moonlighting as a concept is not new. The work-from-home model has observed rise in moonlighting among white-collar employees in India, which pave the debate whether it should be allowed or not. There are few industry experts who are of the opinion that it is the future of gig economy. On the one hand there are companies like Wipro, Infosys which terminated its employees on the grounds of moonlighting, companies like Swiggy and Fintech Unicorn Cred are allowing their employees to take another job after office hours. AI plays a major role in moonlighting – for employees as well as employers. This paper is an effort to explore context of the term ‘moonlighting’, why employees opt for moonlighting, how various organizations look at it, how AI has impacted the whole scenario and how with the help of workforce analytics, it can be controlled.

The reasons for an individual to get engaged in multiple jobs are different ranging from financial to non-pecuniary motives. The survey suggests that in employee’s opinion ‘moonlighting’ is ethical.