After firing 300 employees in September for moonlighting, Wipro’s MD and CEO Thierry Delaporte clarified the company’s stance on moonlighting. On Wednesday, he said that while little side jobs were fine, working for a competitor is a "question of ethics".

During a press conference for the company’s Q2 result announcement, Delaporte explained. “There are contracts which have to be respected. In particular, when people are going for another job that has a conflict of interest with Wipro, how can we accept that?  So, yes we don’t accept that.” 

He elaborated further that Wipro employment contracts expect its employees to not only dedicate time to their work life, but also to their families in order to have a better work-life balance.  “We are perfectly fine with someone having a side job here and there. It’s different. If you’re working for a company in our environment, for example, it’s not a question of legality, it’s a question of ethics. We don’t believe it’s right having two jobs with a conflict of interest," said Delaporte. 

“We are not doing anything new or different. It’s clear to our people when joining Wipro. I’m not talking about side jobs. I’m really talking about being in an obvious situation of conflict of interest. Our employees understand that,” he added.

On August 20, Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji’s tweet about moonlighting being cheating snowballed into a fierce debate in India and later, 300 employees were fired, stating that the IT services company has no place for any employee who chooses to work directly with rivals while being on Wipro payrolls.

Following the same, on September 12, Infosys warned its employees moonlighting could lead to termination, echoing Wipro chairman Rishad Premji.

Image source: Mint