In a tougher stance against employees doing a second job after hours, Wipro Ltd. has terminated almost 300 employees for “moonlighting.”
Rishad Premji, the company’s chairman and a prominent opponent of moonlighting, declared that any employee who chooses to work directly with competitors while still being paid by Wipro has no place in the organization.
Details about Wipro Terminates 300 Employees for Moonlighting
Speaking at an AIMA event, he declared that moonlighting is “a blatant violation of integrity in its deepest form.”
The truth is that there are currently employees of Wipro who are also working directly for one of our rivals. In fact, 300 such employees have been uncovered in the past few months, according to Mr. Premji.
Later, when questioned about the actions taken against the 300 employees, he responded that in those particular cases of violation, services had been terminated.
It is stated in the report that “some personnel discovered to be functioning in conditions that are in direct conflict with Wipro’s interests have been terminated.”
IT companies are concerned that employees who take on additional jobs outside of regular working hours may reduce productivity, create conflicts of interest, and possibly compromise data security.
Mr. Premji has been an outspoken opponent of it and recently compared it to “cheating.”
He stated on Twitter last month, “There is a lot of discussion about people doing second jobs in the IT sector. This is straightforwardly cheating.” His tweet received a lot of attention from the sector, and many IT organizations increased their vigilance against similar tactics.
Last week, Infosys sent out a memo to its staff emphasizing that dual employment is not allowed and admonishing them that any contract conditions violated will result in disciplinary action “which could possibly lead to termination of employment.”
“No moonlighting or working two jobs!” The second-largest IT services provider in India, Infosys, told its staff last week in a stern warning.
On Wednesday, Mr. Premji sought to clear the air by stating that his opinion was “meant more seriously than many imagined it to be” while addressing at AIMA’s (All India Management Association) National Management Convention.
In support of his recent remarks that performing two jobs at once for one company and another is a full breach of integrity, Mr. Premji mentioned instances in which 300 people were discovered to be doing so.
When questioned subsequently on the outside of the event about the actions taken against employees who were simultaneously working for the company and its competitors, Mr. Premji responded that their employment had been terminated for an “act of integrity violation.”
