Not everyone has lots of money at our disposal; even superheroes have side hustled to make ends meet.
Clark Kent - the Superman was daylighting at the Daily Planet. Peter Parker - the Spiderman, basically an educator and scientist, had a side hustle at Daily Bugle as a photographer.
But both the Superheroes have moonlighted to save the world, unlike the common man who strives to save his family day night from the venomous sting of the financial crisis.
Just two years ago, the whole world faced a COVID lockdown, subsequent to which there were lot of new terms spreading in the industry like the virus itself; "New Normal", "SOPs", WFH, the Gig Economy and the Gig Workforce etc.
There were such praises over the disruptive adoption of technology even by the non-technology-based industries and streams of work. Every nook of the world debated on the necessity of considering the WFH as a permanent option, which from the perspective of the employers was cost saving. On the other hand, there were serious nominations for "gig work" taking centre-stage and permanent employment taking a backseat. Many "thinkers" of the time opined gig work will benefit both workers and the employers, adding flexibility and reducing or decentralizing the liabilities on both the parties; that was early 2020 to mid-2021.
Later, when the world opened up to the new normal, and from when we stopped caring about wearing masks, sanitizing the hands, and taking herbal decoctions to become immune to the virus, the industry has been marching towards the old normal.
“Gig Work”, and “Gig Economy” that roughly meant taking assignments beyond the permanent or full-time employment was highly admired during the pandemic. Post-pandemic, the same concept is suffering rebukes in the name of “moonlighting”, when people continue taking up assignments beyond their primary or full-time employment.
Moonlighting has become a conflict of interest
Recently, there have been mixed reports in the media that some companies consider it as either acceptable or they don’t mind their employees moonlighting, while a majority register a serious opposition.
Wipro has criticized moonlighting as cheating.
IBM has informed its team that gig work or a concurrent job in any capability is contrary to the company’s interest.
Infosys though has conceded gig workforce by setting up “Accelerate”, a platform that allows the employees to partake in projects beyond their main work, still holds employees from moonlighting.
The industry’s concern about the confidentiality of information and impact on productivity is perceivable. The emergence of stealthily jumped out start-ups and unicorns add to the industry’s concern could not be ruled out.
Moonlighting Superheroes
Whatever may be the stance of the businesses, the earnest efforts of people who venture into such pursuits to manage the familial needs majorly pushed by the adversities of the pandemic should be considered.
If the economies can adopt policies of collaboration, and what not to stabilize itself, why not individuals?
Sticking to daylighting or extending to moonlighting, the bout is all about securing a bright future.