Moonlighting: Stress is what is leading Gen Z to second jobs

New Delhi, Oct 07: Moonlighting has been in news a lot lately but it is actually not a new concept. It has been an open-secret and prevalent for a long time. Remember the times when teachers would offer extra tuition classes to the students in the evening or during weekends or doctors calling the patients over to their private clinics sometimes. These are some of the not-so-strict examples of moonlighting that have been there for the longest time. So, why the sudden discussion around it?

The term 'moonlighting' describes as an act - by employees - of taking up another job from the second company while being employed by another employer.

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic, Gen Zs or post-millennials, those born between 1995-2015, have been striving for balance and advocating for change. The pandemic not only disrupted everyone's lives but also made people rethink their career choices. The pandemic opened such spaces of fear and insecurity that this generation had never known of.

As a result of this, they want to work with IT companies that that offers inclusive and flexible work policies. There's a simple reason for it. Prior to Covid-19, the approach for job was different and the centralised command structure that most IT companies used to run their organisations were disaggregated. The Covid pandemic has shaken this foundation and the brunt was borne by a lot of younger people who lost their jobs and failed to find new ones.

While the shift to working remotely has provided much-needed flexibility it has also emotionally burdened the younger generation of workers in India.

The impact of Covid-19 and lockdowns even worsened the mental health of the younger generations, who grew up in a world where technology was always a part of their lives.

A data from Deloitte's 2022 Gen Z and Millennial survey shows that nearly half of Gen Z workers, 46 per cent, and 38 per cent of millennials feel stressed all or most of the time. The survey was conducted across 46 countries. The survey further indicated that about 38 per cent of Gen Z employees and a third of millennials have taken time off of work to deal with anxiety and stress.

When looking at the key factors driving stress levels in Gen Zs and millennials, concerns around financial security rank high.

Post the pandemic, the fear of unemployment, inconsistent pay and job insecurity has pushed a lot of generation Z to source for second income and doing the bare minimum at current workplace.

The term 'moonlighting' became a conversation point in India now after IT major Wipro fired 300 employees after finding out that they were working with one of its competitors at the same time to which its chairman Rishad Premji has had no hesitation in calling it out as cheating.

Other tech companies are also moving in a similar direction. Infosys recently had warned its employees of termination if they take up a second job during or post working hours.

While IT sector have been grappling with the issue of moonlighting, on the other hand, online food delivery company Swiggy have allowed their employees to take up a job outside before or after office hours and on weekends that does not impact their business.

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar backed moonlighting but cautioned employees against contract violations. He said that this is the age of employee-entrepreneurs and corporates, and the firms should understand the structural shift in the industry and that captive work models would fail if applied on young Indian IT workforce. He was speaking to ET on the sidelines of the ninth annual forum of the Public Affairs Forum of India. Software companies need to understand the change in the mentality of their young employees, who have been 'bit by the entrepreneurial bug,' he further said.

While it is undebatable that employees who work two jobs could be a threat to the integrity and security of both organisations but the fact is that employees who take up secondary jobs are only trying to satisfy their appetite for growth, learning and doing what they love.