Tech Mahindra CEO is okay with moonlighting, but his company yet to draft a policy
Indian IT company Tech Mahindra's CEO and MD CP Gurnani recently shared his thoughts on the controversial topic, of moonlighting in the IT industry. Contrary to competitors, Gurnani said Tech Mahindra is okay with employees having side gigs.
Why? Gurnani also explained why he thought so:
- But, Gurnani also warned employees about the specifications of moonlighting. Permission is a must in any case.
- If not, Gurnani says violation could be met with a "no tolerance" policy.
- While Gurnani is ready to impose a "no tolerance" policy on violators, currently Tech Mahindra does not have any policy on moonlighting highlighting what is okay and what is not.
- Gurnani says the Mahindra group is yet to come up with a moonlighting policy which will be in accordance with the laws in over 90 countries where it operates.
What is moonlighting? In the modern sense, moonlighting is holding a second job other than your primary job, while being a full time employee. The Indian IT industry has been abuzz with the term for the last few months now (you can read about the moonlighting discussion here).
- Controversially, Wipro chairman Rishad Premji called moonlighting "cheating - plain and simple". Soon, Wipro also suspended nearly 300 employees for moonlighting.
- Infosys said it fired employees for moonlighting in the past 12 months.
- Infosys is also setting up a program called "Accelerate" allowing employees to take up side gigs.
- IT services company L&T Tech also backed moonlighting but as long as the side gig is unrelated to the primary job.
The other side: RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka shared a video with a pertinent question - When a person can be the CEO of a company, the director at another, why can't employees also enjoy the same benefits of using their skills to the fullest?