Wipro found 300 staff working with rivals at the same time
Wipro Ltd has sacked some 300 employees for ‘moonlighting’ as the IT services firm toughens its stand against staffers taking a second job after work hours. The company Chairman Rishad Premji, who has been a vocal critic of moonlighting, said the company has no place for any employee who chooses to work directly with rivals while being on Wipro payrolls. Moonlighting is a “complete violation of integrity in its deepest form,” he said speaking at an AIMA event.
“The reality is that there are people today working for Wipro and working directly for one of our competitors and we have actually discovered 300 people in the last few months who are doing exactly that,” Premji said. Later when the media asked about action taken against the 300 employees, he said services have been terminated in those specific instances of violation. It is learned that the company’s vigilance department caught employees checking their tax papers.
IT firms are worried that employees taking up a secondary jobs after regular work hours will affect productivity, lead to conflicts of interest, and possibly data breaches. Wipro Chairman has been a vocal critic of it and has in the recent past equated it to “cheating”. Last month he Tweeted: “There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple.” His tweet evoked a strong response within the industry, with many IT companies raising their guard against such practices.
There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple.
— Rishad Premji (@RishadPremji) August 20, 2022
Infosys, last week, shot off a missive to its employees, emphasizing that dual employment is not permitted, and warned that any violation of contract clauses will trigger disciplinary action “which could even lead to termination of employment”. “No two-timing – no moonlighting!” Infosys, India’s second-largest IT services company, had said in a strong and firm message to employees last week. Infosys’ internal communication titled “no double lives” had made it clear that “dual employment is not permitted as per…Employee Handbook and Code of Conduct”.
“Any violation of these clauses will lead to disciplinary action which could even lead to termination of employment,” Infosys’ mail had said[1]
IBM India too joined the chorus on moonlighting, terming it an unethical practice. IBM’s managing director for India and South Asia Sandip Patel had reasoned that at the time of joining, the company’s employees sign an agreement saying they will be working only for IBM. “…notwithstanding what people can do in the rest of their time, it is not ethically right to do that (moonlighting),” Patel had said.
Tech Mahindra CEO C P Gurnani tweeted recently that it is necessary to keep changing with the times and added, “I welcome disruption in the ways we work”.
Reference:
[1] Infosys shoots off stern missive to staff on moonlighting; no two-timing, warns of disciplinary action – Sep 14, 2022, PGurus.com
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