Moonlighting techies share how they juggle multiple jobs

His employers were accommodative since the industry requires people to work long hours, according to Singhal. Unlike many who struggle to maintain a work-life balance, he said he was happy and could manage everything as he enjoyed his work and loved to interact with new people.

Singhal, now 26 years old, is an entrepreneur and encourages his interns and employees to explore opportunities outside their working hours.

However, the story is not the same for everyone. Bengaluru-based Deepak Yadav has been moonlighting for six years without his employers knowing. On some days, he finds it difficult to drag himself to the office because he’s sleep-deprived, there are mood swings and fatigue, so he has to call in sick. Some days, he reaches the office late.

He was recently questioned by his CEO but Yadav chose to not reveal the real details.

Remote working has facilitated more people to take up multiple jobs, which many aren’t allowed as per their employment contracts. Deval Singh, vice-president and business head of telecom, I-T, media and government at Teamlease Services, told CNBC-TV18 about the employee working with seven different IT companies simultaneously.

"It's a bit of a scary situation for the tech industry," Singh said. Since the pandemic broke, talented techies have been in short supply, which has led to multiple offers to employees, sometimes from companies in multiple geographies.

It’s not just money that drives moonlighters. “With this (working two jobs), one could earn extra and be prepared for the worst. Right now, the scenario is different, but besides money, one can also make contacts, and you will never be short of jobs,” a Delhi-based techie, mentioned earlier, explained.

“If a full-time job is A and the shift is 9 to 5, the work of company B is picked around 2 to 10. The ratio is 30:30. Focus 30 minutes on A and less on B, then the next 30 minutes more on B, less on A. In that way, you show both places that the task is being done,” the Delhi techie explained.

On the other hand, Yadav works a 9-6 job and turns into a freelancer post that. He doesn’t take up third-party meetings during office hours but agrees that even if he’s tired, he has to work, and that affects the overall productivity even the next day. This is why he says his company shouldn’t find out.

But Yadav’s motivation goes beyond the extra bucks. He moonlights to build contacts so that when he quits the corporate life, he still has work to keep him going.

Both these IT executives have invested in personal laptops to get away from the company software and hardware from detecting their moonlighting gigs. While the former says he could do it from his office laptop as well because he knows the drill and tricks, Yadav owns separate gadgets.

"Sometimes I pay for my own software subscription as well, the reason being company policies. In case they found out my side job and that I'm using company assets, they can sue me," Yadav said.

“It's very difficult to protect intellectual property when employees work with multiple organisations,” said Singh, adding companies are feeling a lot of pressure because it leads to productivity and revenue loss. And moonlighting is one of the main reasons companies want employees to come back to the office.

Ridhi Lamba, HR generalist, MediaMonks, told CNBC-TV18 that HR managers, at first, engage in a verbal conversation with moonlighters and give them a warning. In the second instance, they give the person a performance improvement plan to fix the matter in a specified period following which the final decision is taken by the management.

There could be legal action, too, but that differs from firm to firm and their contracts. In some cases, the candidate may be blacklisted, spoiling his/her reputation in the industry.

After confronting a moonlighter, some companies may offer a monetary hike to retain talent, but others are concerned the move may encourage other employees to follow suit.

"I do see a possibility of part-time concept becoming one of the ways to solve this moonlighting concern," a Teamlease official said. "It also helps curb costs. Bear in mind that if you have mutually agreed on a few hours a day in a week, you will pay them for the amount they have worked with you, which works out the cost angle. But of course, there have to be clear guidelines to ensure that the organisation doesn't take any kind of a hit."