Moonlighting means doing second job in addition to regular employment that is not related to the main job. For example, a person can work as a teacher in college and also run a shop in the evenings. People work second jobs to improve their skills and make more money. But the result of moonlighting is just exhaustion.
Employees indulge in moonlighting out of dissatisfaction in their current job due to the low wage and salary structure. Employees feel exploited by their employer and take on a second job. It’s really a challenge for the HR manager because moonlighting negatively impacts productivity.
Why do employees indulge in moonlighting?
Most workers today engage in moonlighting for the following reasons.
- Additional income
- To improve their skills
- No recognition from the organization
- Use of free time
Categories of moonlighting
1.Blue moonlighting
After dissatisfaction with the performance assessment due to low salary increases, employees want to take a second job for extra income. However, due to their lack of qualifications, they cannot find a second job. Such a failure of efforts is known as blue moonlighting
2.Quarter moonlighting
When an employee is not satisfied with their salary and seeks a part-time job working alongside their regular job for additional income, this is known as quarter moonlighting.
3 .Half moonlighting
Some employees want a luxurious lifestyle and want to spend 50% of their time in another job. It is known as half moonlighting.
4.Full Moonlighting
Some employees build their own business while working in another low-capacity job. When they have more free time, they will be happy to pursue their own interests. This happens when employees think their income is not on par with their friends and wants to increase their social status. They want to be identified with their second job and call it full moonlighting.
Moonlighting negatively impacts the organization and this becomes a major challenge for HR managers when it becomes a trend in an organization. It also affects employee development as employees show no interest in the development measures. It will also demotivate those employees who are non-moonlighting workers as they will begin to notice the change in moonlighting worker activities.
Dr.R.Sethumadhavan
Faculty,
DSCE-MBA
