Moonlighting gets real at Wipro, '300 staff working with rivals'

Days after Indian IT giant Wipro warns its employees of moonlighting, Chairman Rishad Premji said the company had found its 300 employees worked with one of its competitors at the same time.

He further added that their employment had been terminated for "act of integrity violation".

The definition of moonlighting itself is about having another job secretively. As part of transparency, individuals can have candid and open conversations around playing in a band or "working on a project over the weekend", he explained.

"That is an open conversation that the organisation and the individual can make a concerted choice about, on whether that works for them or doesn't," he said.

The issue of 'moonlighting' has emerged as a big talking point after the Wipro chairman flagged the issue. Premji had taken to Twitter recently to highlight the issue saying: "There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating - plain and simple."

The issue of moonlighting by tech professionals has ignited a fresh debate polarising opinions within the industry. Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani tweeted recently that it is necessary to keep changing with the times and added "I welcome disruption in the ways we work".