Not only companies, but employees too find moonlighting ‘unethical’: Indeed report

• A new Indeed report reveals that 81% of the employees don’t wish to take up another job alongside the one they currently work in and cited the practice to be ‘unethical’.
  
• However, 19% of the employees in India are interested in moonlighting, according to the Indeed Hiring Tracker report.
  
• A large percentage of employees in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector, FMCG and manufacturing sector believe moonlighting to be violating the contract.

Moonlighting has taken over the conversation in the job sector, with heavy debates on the moral dilemma it poses. In fact, many business leaders regard moonlighting to be ‘cheating’. And as per the Indeed Hiring Tracker report, many Indian employees also consider moonlighting to be an ‘unethical’ practice.

A new Indeed report reveals that 81% of the employees don’t wish to take up another job alongside the one they currently work in and cited it to be ‘unethical’.

However, 19% of the employees in India are interested in moonlighting, according to the Indeed Hiring Tracker report. The survey was conducted among 1,281 employers and 1,533 jobseekers and employees between July and September, 2022.

Moonlighting is a practice in which an employee works more than one job. It means that the employee who is moonlighting concurrently works for a company in a full-time role along with part-time jobs in other companies, typically held secretly.

A large percentage of employees in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector, FMCG and manufacturing sector believes moonlighting to be violating the employment contract. While in the IT sector, around 43% of employees find moonlighting favorable.

However, business leaders of the tech companies have been very vocal and expressed their concerns about this, calling moonlighting to be ‘cheating’ and ‘illegal and unethical’.

In fact, tech major Wipro fired 300 employees in the month of August this year, who were found to be moonlighting.

As per the report, the top reasons why employees choose to moonlight is to safeguard against job loss (37%) and supplement their incomes (27%). Contrastingly, 23% employers believe that employees moonlight because they have ample time on hand for a second job.

“What people want from work has changed forever - It is not just about just clocking in hours and going back home. The pandemic has made employees step back and reevaluate priorities. In an era where talent is valued more than ever, employers are shifting from a focus on employee experience to employee life experience - more open PTOs, flexibility at work, a movement towards hybrid work etc.,” said Sashi Kumar, head of sales, Indeed India.
Employees are stressed and burned out
Another trend which has been growing in the Indian workforce is ‘quiet quitting’ and employees feel that this is due to stress and burnout among employees.

According to the report, 29% of employees surveyed believe that the feeling of burn-out or being overwhelmed with work is the root cause behind this, while 23% believe that lack of support by managers or bosses, has led to the growth of the trend.

However, on the other hand, 33% of the employers surveyed believe that low general job satisfaction (boredom, lack of challenges, etc.) is the main reason for the growing trend of quiet quitting.

“In the past few weeks there have also been several global uncertainties that have led to layoffs across the globe. Amidst this, it's important for employers to relook at their workplace culture and address the underlying issues that are driving such trends. The world of work is transient right now and we might see more such trends play out as we acclimate to the new normal of work,” Kumar further added.

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