Moonlighting – Social Inequalities And Increasing Demands of a Consumer Economy Are Imbalancing People’s Lives, Causing Short Breathing in A Forest
Karma Management Global Consulting Solutions Pvt. Ltd. one of the top 5 labour law consulting firms in the country, has recently hit upon yet another significant milestone in the journey of tying up SUNDEEP PURI ASSOCIATES AND ADVOCATE, where both these Firms Have Formally joined hands together to collaborate and create a bigger alliance by upscaling its business on pan India basis and Internationally to give greater reach of its Services together to its hundreds of clients all over.
Sandeep Puri & Associates (SD Pure& Co.) with 55+ years of existence and helmed by Adv. Sundeep Puri & Adv. Ravi Paranjpe is one of the largest retainer firms in India specializing in “Employment Laws” advising the Corporate Sector. The Firm boasts of some clients being associated for the last 55+ years and the majority since the last 30-40 years. They have extensive experience in counseling Foreign MNCs & Indian MNC Clients having multi-locational Factories &/or offices Pan-India on a daily basis on a wide range of “Employment & Labour” issues, keeping in view the cultural diversity of the workforce such as Acquisitions, Mergers, Consolidations, Reductions in the workforce, Maintaining union-free environment by not undermining the principles of collective bargaining & also preserving operational flexibility in unionized settings, providing tailor-made models for conflict-free, productivity conducive Industrial Environment, as also in respect to Applicability of the various labour laws. They believe in Solution oriented Practical Advice backed by Law.
On the other hand, Karma Management Global Consulting Solutions Pvt. Ltd. since 2004 is backed by 25 years of prior experience since 1979 , operating on an India basis and Internationally in the Americas and EMEA, helmed by Pratik Vaidya, is a leading giant in payroll management, compliance and governance, human resource services, professional Employment staffing, and onboarding, recruitment and talent acquisition, advisory and consultations thereby offering a plethora of services with quick turn-around solutions including in-house flagship AI/ML based tech solutions so as to help organizations of different types and stature to perform better in Human Resource ensuring Risk Management, Compliance and Governance across Environmental, Social and Corporate laws and grow bigger.
So in this regard, besides the business profile of Karma relating to labour laws, it will now focus whole time also on legal and para-legal issues and matters with the collaboration of Sundeep Puri & Associates who are already into legal matters such as disputes, litigation, and court cases.
THE FOREST LIES LIES IN THE MINDS OF THE MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILY, but unable to see………. let us analyze
briefly ………!
A middle-class family is a social group that consists of ordinary people who usually have good jobs and are neither rich nor very poor.
Monetary Problem: This is one of the most common problems in middle-class people when it comes to finances. With the draining economy and the ever-rising costs of everything from groceries to petrol, it is no different over here. With a modest salary that can hardly even cover electricity bills and taxes, the middle-class man often stumbles every step of the way because there are just no funds left, no money to save, and no money to buy anything. Interest rates on loans are going through the ceiling; insurance premiums had never before been so costly; so now the middle-class man finds himself knee-deep in debts, mortgages, and loans and deprived of the many luxuries that he is able to see around for himself and for his family.
Catching up with technology: The pressure of coping with the latest technology is also a new issue faced by a middle-class families. Seeing the trends of society around and technology making a big buzz everywhere, it is but imperative for middle-class people having jobs to necessarily have a smartphone and laptop as it becomes their part of work. Also, parents who manage to educate their children in good schools face difficulties like e-learning for which a tablet or smartphone is necessary and is almost enforced by the school education department. Therefore, definitely with times changing and new adaptions coming in from the West and from around the globe, these are bound to have an adverse monetary effect on Indian Middle-class families. There are still things like hi-fi laptops, pads, Smart television sets, microwaves, ovens, etc. which are being propagated in the market, especially festival times which are enticing the middle class but out of their reach as they cannot afford the same.
The dream is not reality but only hallucinations: The Middle class like all others is fascinated with hi-fi things and dreams about being in seventh heaven when they see celebrities and bigwigs flashing their luxuries and wealth. It is but natural for such middle-class human beings to also think of becoming big or making it big by trying to shape their future, their ambitions, their aspirations, their goals, and what and where they want to be someday. But such a dream becomes a farce for the middle-class people because when the dream crashes, and he comes down to earth, there are a lot of disappointments, heartbreaks, and ego-bruising things to deal with, and again their practical life and difficulties bring them back down to earth, shattered.
MOONLIGHTING IS THE ALTERNATIVE CONCEPT, STEPPING IN TO BAIL OUT MIDDLE-CLASS EMPLOYEES
The attendant monopolization of resources in a capitalist economy, to the detriment of the well-being of employees, is very much a contemporary reality.
It is but envious for some people to own abundant cash and capital, while the majority of the people find themselves in more precarious situations, at the bottom of the pyramid, with only meager earnings and no surplus on hand for spending on their wants and needs of luxuries.
It is the middle group that faces the moonlighting problem in IT industries, the industry being tech savvy, showcasing a higher surge in business, growth, and development with big margins in profitability and the creation of big wealth for the stakeholders. While IT employees may have enough resources to take their families out for a fancy meal, their income does not match up to meet ever-increasing demands.
These include rising inflation on the one hand and corporate practices on the other.
RICH BECOMING RICHER WITHOUT ADDED BENEFITS TO THE REST OF THE SOCIETY
- It can be said that the inequality ingrained in Indian society is severe.
- Charitable Organisation Federation Oxfam’s 2021 report called “Inequality Kills” reported that the income of 84 percent of Indian households declined in 2021, whereas the number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142.
- During the pandemic period of March 2020 to November 30, 2021, the wealth of Indian billionaires increased from INR 23.14 lakh crore (USD 313 billion) to INR 53.16 lakh crore (USD 719 billion). The wealth of billionaire tycoon Gautama Adani multiplied eightfold in this period.
- According to reports, IT major Wipro’s CEO Thierry Delatorre, earned the most among his peers, at INR 79.8 crore (USD 10.5 million) in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, up from INR 64.3 crore (USD 8.7 million) in 2021.
- Infosys CEO Sail Parekh began drawing INR 72 crore (USD 10.2 million) this year, under the terms of a new contract, increasing his pay from 2021 by 88 percent.
- As per the financial and business portal Money Control, CEO salaries in India’s giant IT companies have grown disproportionately faster than the salaries of fresh hires in the industry.
- While the median annual pay of CEOs increased by 835 percent in a decade (from INR 3.37 crore in 2012 to Rest 31.5 crore in 2022), the median salary package of freshers grew just 45 percent in the same duration (from Rest 2.45 lakh to Rest 3.55 lakh). When inflation rates are factored in, freshers today effectively earn less than their peers from a decade ago.
EXPECTATIONS OF NEW GENERATIONS
“New generation expects freedom and flexibility at workplaces, however, companies will have to redefine what exactly is moonlighting and cheating in their employment contracts, appointment letters, manuals, policies, etc. It would be short-sighted if they (companies) only focus on moonlighting and miss out on talent in the bargain” creating a void and imbalancing the surface of executing efficient business and its related goals.
It would be preferable if the “Employees are allowed to negotiate their contracts, in India, where presently, there are 8 types of contracts which the employees should be allowed to choose from. On the other hand, employees will have to tread the water carefully while signing the dotted lines and understand fully the clauses once signed, it should be irrevocable and cannot be deemed as misunderstood or unaware. The choice between flexibility and job security will have to be addressed” clearly in the initial stages itself in order to stem the rot or give cause for confrontation mid-way through the process.
What happened and How did moonlight come about?
Companies expect employees to work a longer number of hours per day and dedicate their whole time and whole sum lives to the company. This of course is expected keeping in mind the fact that businesses need focus throughout the tenure and there cannot be any distracted teams as it will only lead to gaps and fragmentation and we very well know that such things never succeed.
Employees, after tasting the WFH life and the freedom associated with it are not too willing to let go of their freedom. During the WFH era, they were working on various side gigs- and the start-up boom just added to the frenzy. During this time, the belief ingrained into their minds was that besides the regular work, with ample time let me have the luxury of looking at my own start-up ideas and becoming a unicorn by looking out for investments, growing my investments so as to reach a valuation of 1 billion.
This trend naturally raised high hopes, expecting the perks of a ‘devoted’ life, but at the same time, wanting to retain their freedom.
And obviously, companies are under pressure to show higher numbers and higher margins, believing in the fact that working from the office, and cutting down the moonlighting work will help improve productivity and focus on the goals desired to be achieved.
Eventually, there is nothing like companies are wrong or employees are wrong, only if we are able to see the larger picture.
The marketing and Industry landscape is changing, so then What’s really happening?
Well, the employer-employee relationship is changing. Pre-coved, it was a one-upmanship – when the times were good, the employee had the upper hand, and would demand any salary/perks. When the times were bad, companies had the upper hand – having the reach and scope to make crazy demands.
But now, the world of work has changed or is changing. There seems to be an equilibrium between employers and employees. And none of the parties are willing to admit it.
Conclusion
It has come to a stage where none of the parties are willing to give up control, which is nothing but an emergence of a lack of trust on both sides.
The way forward…………………!
A new wave of working professionals emerged during coved times – they actually seem to ‘have a life.
These hardened professionals to the core are right now doing what is called quiet quitting, i.e. doing just the exact amount of work needed to survive the job
They have their own creative life outside the office – maybe in earth verse or in meta verse, we don’t know. Digital Advertising Veteran, Tim Armstrong thinks Facebook’s rebranding to meta platforms was number one in the best marketing jujitsu moves of the last 200 years. But while he thinks there is a big opportunity in the meta verse long term, he is more upbeat about the near-term opportunity what he calls the Earth verse, reaching consumers in the real world.
Smart, agile companies will soon adapt to this changing work environment. And this is how it will pan out in the next few years.
Most companies will have a lesser number of full-time employees, especially junior level
A lot of transactional work will happen remote / with WFA (Work from Anywhere) teams who, will work on project/contract basis.
Talent will compete at a global level, especially in junior – mid-level roles for WFA roles. That is, skills will win over degrees.
There will be fewer great businesses coming out as there will be fewer passionate, hustling teams.
So in the end, there will be two types of people, some of them tapping into new opportunities and companies will be better off, knowing the difference between the ones who are passionate (have them as full-timers) vs. the ones who just want to do 9-6 jobs (have them as freelancers).
At the moment, the race is on …………. time will tell!
Karma Management Global Tech Consulting Firm works across a wide variety of industries, constantly looking for ways to offer new services and increase its global businesses.
In order to serve today’s technology-savvy clients and employees, Karma Management planned much ahead of its time by adapting to processes and systems to accommodate quickly changing markets.
As Industry is continuing to get more and more competitive, Karma Management is bridging the gap, setting itself in tune with the latest technology trends in order to maintain a competitive advantage for all of its over 400 domestic and global clients.
Automation and AI
Karma Management was among the first to improve efficiencies, the first in the vendor auditing process to fully automate and streamline any and all processes surrounding the auditing business of entities and vendors.
The chatbot and AI did a fabulous job of giving machine output, with a quicker pace, cheaper rate, and more accurate level of auditing and reporting.
This helped in elevating the roles of our Auditors to focus on complex tasks that require more brainpower or the human touch, leaving some of its task to the capabilities of the machine.
Incorporating chatbots in customer service allowed time for our expert representatives to spend time dealing with more complex issues which could ultimately add to the user experience and this is what set us apart from others.
Automating repetitive processes in our systems helped us free the valuable time of our expert staff allowing them to reach out to more clients.
For this purpose, Karma Global has both full-time IT-related staff and also indirect staff who are freelancing with us for enhancing our IT capabilities to the next level on the cloud platform.
Proprietory blog of Karma Management Global Tech Firm
This blog has been collated and compiled by the internal staff of Karma Global with the knowledge and expertise that they possess, for its monthly newsletter Issue 04 of November 2022 in case of specific or general information or compliance updates for that matter, kindly reach out to the
Marketing Team – kush@karmamgmt.com / yashika@karmamgmt.com