The glare on moonlighting: It needs creative solutions

The underlying principle of using carrot rather than sticks may work better in tackling a problem that the IT biggies cannot wish away

Moonlighting has come into the public glare over the past two months, suggesting that IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) companies urgently need to address the issue head-on and realistically. First, delivery start-up Swiggy made headlines in August by announcing a formal “moonlighting policy” for its employees. Then late last month, Wipro sacked 300 employees for allegedly working secretly for competitors. Wipro’s Rishad Premji, who has been criticised by a section of IT sector employees for his actions, stoutly described the practice as “cheating”. This week, Tata Consultancy Services, the country’s largest IT services company described moonlighting as an “ethical issue”