Wipro Fires 300 Workers Who Did Multiple Jobs During Work From Home

Wipro had fired its 300 employees after finding out that they were working with one of its competitors at the same time, Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji said on 21 September.

The Wipro Chairman asserted that he stands by his recent comments on moonlighting being a complete violation of integrity "in its deepest form".

"The reality is that there are people today working for Wipro and working directly for one of our competitors and we have actually discovered 300 people in the last few months who are doing exactly that," Premji said speaking at AIMA's (All India Management Association) National Management Convention.

What is moonlighting? 

The term moonlighting refers to the practice of working on a second job or multiple other work assignments apart from one’s full-time job. It has become a widely debated issue in the IT (Information Technology) industry since the COVID-19 pandemic made remote working the norm, which is believed to have led to a rise in dual employment. 

Many IT companies have come down hard on the practice, warning employees of termination if found to be holding dual employment. Companies have opposed the practice, saying employees doing multiple jobs can impact their productivity, create a conflict of interest with competitor companies, or even lead to data breaches or theft.