Moonlighting@WFH–A Catalyst for Growth or Problems - Part II:

 The previous post on #Moonlighting or #Gig jobs gave an understanding of the term with reasons and proof of escalation in this activity in the IT and ITES sectors in the current WFH situation https://writersara.blogspot.com/2021/07/moonlighting-in-time-of-wfh-part-i.html

In today’s knowledge-oriented economies, the responsibility of managing careers rests solely with an individual. They have to be proactive at developing skills, screening the market, and grabbing all available opportunities. They frequently move jobs using their knowledge, skills, and dynamically updated capabilities. This phenomenon has promoted the uptrend in moonlighting.

The primary employee reasons and pros of moonlighting are:

- To upgrade or diversify skill levels in a highly competitive and shrinking employment market. When employees comprehend that they have expertise in emerging technology or a skill they have nurtured, which is now valued by other businesses, they offer services as #freelancers in return for a payment.

- To create extra wealth for leisure, retirement, saving for healthcare in these unpredictable times, or increased family responsibilities. #Covid has made the youth, who could care less about #healthcare see the need for it. #WFH gives them the freedom and space to moonlight and earn for new needs.

- For increased job enrichment if both jobs are in a similar industry. The #Millenials are moving to be ‘Portfolio Careerists’ who are working with diversified domains rather than striving for specialization in one domain. Moonlighting helps enrich their profiles, market themselves as good multi-taskers, with the ability to freelance assignments of various domains efficiently. They are raising another bar in front of freelancers working for field-specific assignments.

- For financial security, while trying to become entrepreneurs to reach a break-even point: The aspect of working anywhere, anytime was pushed upfront by WFH. Employees of large corporations who were juggling home and work for a regular salary have nurtured the dreams of their enterprise and freedom. Moonlighting helps to accrue money for the financial goals they have set, till they cut off from their permanent employers.

Organizations have always frowned on employees moonlighting. The concerns remain the same:

- Security and Confidentiality of their in-house projects.

- Divided organizational commitment between multiple occupations affects performance, creating burnouts, fatigue, and poor attentiveness. Technical glitches and accidents can be caused due to this. There is also a greater trend to mobility among moonlighters.
- Limitations of time and energy to fulfill multiple commitments decrease loyalty and earning dependency towards the primary organization.

The reality today is that entrepreneurs and freelancers are reshaping the concept of work and employers have to relook at how they can use technology to evolve the workspace. There are some pros of moonlighting for the organizations:

-Moonlighting keeps employees engaged, with a sense of satisfaction and enthusiasm. The nutured ambitions of being one's boss are satisfied through other assignments.

- Organizations also participate in Moonlighting by becoming employers. #‘Crowdsourcing’ is the word used when you dip into the competitive market and look to fulfill a required urgent skillset. Moonlighting employees are affordable, readily available, and do not come with the liability of perquisites like healthcare, retirement benefits. They work best in the short term, unusual projects, or have a skill set that is not available or affordable to retain as a permanent employee.

In conclusion moonlighting is a win-win for all stakeholders if it is practiced with caution and limitations. Accepting that it is an inevitable feature of the #Future of Work, the #Workplace, and the #Workforce is the way forward for all.

 

For references: https://www.ijitee.org/wp-content/uploads/papers/v8i7s2/G10350587S219.pdf