Moonlighting for financial sustenance
“When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge,” said American poet and author Tuli Kupferberg. The last two to three years have proved the same. The professional world has been a crazy place lately. We have all seen a whirlwind of new patterns, changing policies, and challenging environments. Though all with the same old dramas of a workplace. While the job market has been tight, the financial market lately hasn’t been of any help either. As the expenses continue to grow and wages remain unsatisfactory, employees have been resorting to moonlighting. For the uninitiated, moonlighting is a process wherein an employee secretly carries out jobs or projects outside their primary, full-time job.
For this purpose, a person could be working a second full-time job or taking up a small, part-time side hustle. All so, either for extra income or to follow a long-lost passion. Ever since this concept came to light, it has been raising eyebrows and sparking debates for many reasons, such as ethics, productivity, and even trust.
It was during COVID when globally, everyone worked from home. Many facets joined in this conundrum, like pay cuts and free time due to initial slag in the workload. Owing to all these factors combined, employees resorted to finding side hustles. It is to either make up for the financial loss or partake in something that connected them to their passion.
Not just the employees but even the employers realised that freelancers and pay-per-project are both beneficial models of companies. And, that is how moonlighting became a much-talked-about concept everywhere.
Recently, we have all heard how several companies fired their employees for taking up a second job. There also seem to be many companies who have specifically changed their employment contracts to bar moonlighting. Some have introduced fresh policies to tackle the situation at hand. While companies continue to maintain a negative attitude towards it, the employees seem to be in favour. Let us flip the coin to both sides and see what they reveal.
As we speak of employees, we see many people engaged in moonlighting primarily for extra money or for pursuing a hobby. Like I mentioned before, the money market and job markets are both currently unfavourable for all. As inflation is at an all-time high, recession is hitting even the world’s strongest economies, and expenses are off the roof, the present generation is having a tough time.
The Millennials and Gen Z are especially facing major money troubles. We are living in times where debts and credits are beyond comparison to what they were even a decade ago and asset building seems far fetched. This shows that many will only benefit from an extra buck, and hence, moonlighting seems the only way to sustain them.
On top of it all, in a job market where layoffs can knock at the door any moment and new jobs are daunting to find, moonlighting acts as a ray of hope for many. It can help a person find steady connections that are likely to come in handy in case of job loss. These connections can also take a leap and hire these people for full-time roles or even connect them to more employers. Either way, for someone insecure at their workplace, it is a silver lining.
Furthermore, those who moonlight for hobbies and skill development can also gather relevant experience through moonlighting and make a shift in their fields if need be. Ultimately, keeping people feeling secure and taken care of.
On the flip side, when we see why employers give moonlighting a stink eye, we can’t entirely disagree with them either. One thing that employers seek from their employees is productivity and efficiency. Many managers globally believe multiple jobs lead to under-productive employees. That is a fair consideration because people who moonlight are most likely to put in extra hours, leading to exhaustion, burnout, and underwhelming results. The added workload can lead to a state of confusion from juggling several things.
The biggest concern employers have with people who take up side hustles is that of integrity and trust. Every company spends years developing their proprietary knowledge. Product specifications, marketing plans, technologies, and many other things are practically trade secrets. Those who fail to keep their integrity intact and take facets of these invaluable secrets to a different place need to understand that the consequences of the same for the primary company will be far-reaching.
Tackling this landscape is a tricky journey that cannot be trodden upon by employees or employers alone. There needs to be a delicate balance. If we speak of employees, a major chunk of the onus lies on them to strike this balance. While moonlighting as a concept is not a menace, it does become one when loosely handled. As a full-time worker at a company, one swears in their truthfulness and integrity to the company. It is only understood that each worker needs to prioritise their full-time work first. It’s essential to ensure all tasks are diligently catered to and confidential information remains so. People should venture out into projects that are either linked to a hobby or help them upskill. This ensures that the gig does not conflict with the work progress at the primary workplace.
There is nothing better and safer than non-conflicting moonlighting. It brings a fresh perspective and a new-found positivity. All of this is because churning the creative and learning juices in our brains leads to rewarding happiness. Lastly, it will always be appreciable if employees discuss the intricacies of their side gigs with their employers. The idea is to remain transparent about the need to undertake them. You never know if your employer will give you a raise or a position change to help you find the financial support you need.
As for the companies that still stand against moonlighting and aim to deter the workers from engaging in side jobs, the most suitable options remain to have relevant clauses in the employment contracts or have an entirely separate policy. While companies always have the option to ban moonlighting, it’s essential to recognise the talents at hand and pay fair remunerations. Gone are the days when people will get exploited at under-paid jobs. The new generation knows their worth, and companies need to step up.
Allowing anti-conflicting moonlighting can be beneficial for companies. This is because it permits employees to undertake their aspirations and remain thoroughly motivated and grateful. It also improves employee performance as they can acquire new skills, knowledge, and diverse perspectives. At the end, bringing in a culture centred on trust, autonomy, and flexibility.
While many will continue to believe that moonlighting is unethical, many don’t have another option, especially in the midst of the financially strained environment. Personally, I believe that it is high time we adapt to the change, find a mid-path, and slowly but surely work peacefully. Let’s make English author-physicist Stephen Hawking’s quote, “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change,” our mantra.
