BuzzFix: How Moonlighting and Quiet Quitting Have Gained Momentum in Post-Pandemic World

While a lot has been written about the Great Resignation, a few new terms have popped up in the recent past, drawing a major focus: Moonlighting and Quiet Quitting. People, all across the globe, are actively engaging in these practices without even being aware of their existence. While moonlighting refers to the practice of taking up secondary jobs after regular work hours, quiet quitting is when people continue to fulfil their primary responsibilities, however, they become less willing to engage in activities termed as “citizenship behaviours,” meaning, no more staying late or showing up early, or attending non-mandatory meetings.

To many, quiet quitting may not seem that problematic. This is because the employees are not refusing to fulfill their core responsibilities. However, to a few companies, employees who step up to meet extra demands are severely needed.

This is when quiet quitting becomes a major problem. For instance, a report by Harvard Business Review states that many leaders have reacted “quite negatively” to the quiet quitting trend. Many of them argued that losing employees who want to leave is difficult, however, having them not quit is even worse. This is because it often increases the burden on their colleagues.

On the other hand, in the case of Moonlighting, the secondary job is taken without the employers’ knowledge. The term came into the limelight when IT major Infosys Ltd warned its employees against moonlighting, saying that the practice may result in the termination of contract of the employee as it is against the company’s rules. In an internal post, the homegrown IT company said that dual employment will not be allowed as per Infosys’s code of conduct. This came amid an IT crackdown on the practice of taking up a second job, with Wipro warning its employees weeks prior to Infosys’s letter.

The IT firms are worried that ‘moonlighting’ will affect productivity, lead to conflicts of interest, and possible data breaches.

IT companies have been worried about the practice. N. Ganapathy Subramaniam, chief operating officer of Tata Consultancy Services, had said at an event that moonlighting will not work out in the long run. “Employers need to inculcate ethics and being right… If you make something like this for short-term gains, in the long-term, you will lose out—that kind of a message has to go to the employees,” Subramaniam said.

These terms have sparked a fresh debate, polarizing opinions and many legal questions. Experts are of the view that staff’s gradual return to office floors will ease the concerns. Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji has flagged the issue and equated it to “cheating.”

The industry’s take on the same is rather divided. Tech Mahindra CEO C P Gurnani tweeted recently that it is necessary to keep changing with the times and added, “I welcome disruption in the ways we work.”

IT industry veteran and former director of Infosys, Mohandas Pai, while speaking to PTI said that low entry-level salary in tech industry has contributed to moonlighting. He further added that during the pandemic there was a surge in gig opportunities as “everything went digital”.

“If you don’t pay people well, they say I want to earn more money and here is the easy way of earning well because technology is available…I get paid in dollars very well, I can earn more… and so that is attractive,” he said.

Moonlighting gained momentum after the onset of the pandemic triggered ‘work from home’. The overnight shift to remote working helped people to get rid of long commutes and it brought relatively more fluid work schedules. For many, it yielded new opportunities, especially in their free time.

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