The country's largest IT services exporter TCS on Monday, October 10 said moonlighting is an "ethical issue" and against its core values but has not taken any action against any staff. The company, which employs over 6.16 lakh people, will take into account all the relevant dimensions while forming its final view on the issue which has been dominating headlines for the last few weeks, its Chief Human Resources Officer Milind Lakkad told reporters. "Moonlighting we believe is an ethical issue and it is against our core values and culture," Lakkad said.
The company's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Rajesh Gopinathan said that an employee is barred from working for any other organisation as part of the service contract. Lakkad said that unlike peers like Wipro, which announced sacking of over 300 employees recently, TCS has not taken any action against any employee.
He said that TCS has a long term commitment towards its employees and the employees also have a "reciprocal commitment" towards the company, and also acknowledged that at present its peers in the IT industry may have different views on the subject. Further, he said the company has been communicating its stance on moonlighting lately but did not elaborate.
In recent weeks, CXOs in the IT industry have been offering varied takes on the subject of moonlighting. Over the past few months, the IT industry has been faced with a manpower shortage triggered by a high demand for services following the greater adoption of digitalisation following the pandemic.
While some like Tech Mahindra have supported the idea of side jobs, others like Infosys, Wipro have flagged concerns about it. Infosys had last month warned employees against the practice of moonlighting and said that employees found doing so could be terminated from services. In an email sent to employees titled “No Double Lives”, the company said, “… dual employment is not permitted as per the Employee Handbook and the Code of Conduct. Any violation of these clauses will lead to disciplinary action which could even lead to termination of employment.”
Wipro chairman Rishad Premji had said in September that over 300 employees of the company were sacked after it was found that they were engaged in working with one of its competitors at the same time. Premji has voiced his opinion against moonlighting in the past and said that it is a complete violation of integrity “in its deepest form”. Premji had also taken to Twitter to highlight the issue saying: "There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating - plain and simple."