‘Moonlighting’ in the time of WFH – Part I

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 What is moonlighting? In simple terms, it means having another job in addition to your Primary one. Moonlighting is also known as ‘side-hustle’, side-gig’ or ‘private consulting’. It has been endemically present in the non-IT sector, but with WFH and smart technology, it has aggressively moved into this vertical.

                                    


#Moonlighting can be categorized as ‘Inbred Moonlighting’ and ‘Outbred moonlighting’. Inbred moonlighting is working on additional jobs or assignments in the same or similar industry where your primary job is, ‘Outbred moonlighting’ is working in an industry unrelated to the industry your primary employment is in.

As per the study of Manipal Global Education- one of India’s largest Education services Groups, India is second to only the USA with more than 15million freelancers.

In precovid times, an incipient sharing industry, epitomized later by #Uber, #Airbnb, and many others targeted people with jobs. The proposition of flexible working hours and additional income to take home, quickly appealed to all.

#Moonlighting is not an employee’s legal right. From the employer's perspective, the expectation is that the employee is ‘present, productive and involved’. The reasons which bring about moonlighting, will make us understand, how will this work for both sides in this WFH situation.

The basic need for employees moonlighting is to earn more but for varied personal reasons.

In #Freelancer.com, the number of registered people from India is the highest which is more than 20 percent of the total registrations. The Indian registrations are 5.3 million and surprisingly 3.3 million from the US, second to India.
The last data of Jan 2018, shows freelancers who have been working for 3 to 5 years, 23 % of them are earning as high as Rs 45 lakh a year, This figure is disconcerting for the employees who struggle financially in their regular jobs and for employers too, specifically Indian employers, as 82% of projects are being delivered by Indian freelancers.

With #COVID creating an increased demand for online applications, for #contact-free services, these figures would only be amplified, with the freedom and flexibility of the WFH situation. The #millennials who make up a majority of the moonlighting market are moving more towards the concept of #employment security rather than job security. The individuals want to create their own #safety net and not be deluded by the illusion of job security provided by big organizations.

The crucial issues for employers are confidentiality and ensuing diminished productivity, which cannot be tracked or regulated in the WFH situation. Some states in the US including California support employees, and do not allow #non-compete contracts. In India, it is an illegal act and the employee contracts clearly specify termination on moonlighting.

It is imperative to understand the trend of moonlighting dynamics and draft frameworks for creating opportunities to prevent moonlighting. Proactive and affirmative action by organizations with respect to moonlighting is the future of work, especially WFH.

Join me in Part II of this post as we focus on employee and employer posture on the issue of moonlighting

References : https://www.slideshare.net/adobe/work-in-progress-62320360

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