Nasscom on Moonlighting: We need to reimagine employee engagement models

After Wipro sacking 300 employees as it found then moonlighting with a competition, the Indian IT industry body Nasscom said that its time for companies to reimagine employee engagement models.

Moonlight the concept of having two jobs has come under fire as companies pointed out that this is unethical and short of cheating. 

Debjani Ghosh. President Nasscom said the disagreements about moonlighting arise from a lack of transparency from employees, as it breaks down the trust with their employer.

"The problem happens when you are a full time worker and you decide to pursue other opportunities without informing your current employer about your decision. That's where the trust between employer and employees breaks down. That's the problem that we have to figure out how to fix," Ghosh said. 

She added that companies should upgrade with changing employee engagement models in the post pandemic time. 

"The pandemic has made us rethink many things. We have to completely reimagine our employee engagement model for hybrid working. We have to build flexibility and as we do that, we have to ensure that trust becomes the bedrock of any engagement model. That's where the current problems are rising. This is something that indsutry can work together and fix. Companies should come up with a model that helps to build culture, improve productivity, and encourage collaboration. Each company will have to decide this, there is no one size that will fit everywhere."

Ghosh said, "We have to embrace two models, one is having full time employees onboard and other is engaging with gig workers. Doing multiple jobs is not the problem but its about how you do it. If the employer is willing to keep gig workers on board, knowing fully that you are working with other companies, that should not be a problem. "