TCS COO Says Action Against Moonlighting Can Ruin A Person's Career, Should Show Empathy

At a time when IT giants such as Wipro and Infosys have not only spoken against moonlighting but even fired employees for the same, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Chief Operating Officer has put forth his views on moonlighting. TCS COO N. Ganapathy Subramaniam told PTI that action against moonlighting can ruin a person's career and, hence, it is important to show empathy while dealing with the issue.

TCS

He said, "Nothing prevents the country's biggest IT services exporter from taking action against employees for moonlighting when it has evidence because it is a part of the service agreement, but young kids will have to be dissuaded." He added, "The consequences (of taking action) will be that the person's career will be ruined. Background check for the next future job will fail for him...We have to show some empathy."

He said the company looks at an employee as being a part of the family and, given the consequences of any action, would rather focus on dissuading the family member from going astray.

COO Subramaniam said that some IT companies work on a model where they are OK with freelancers, but companies like TCS, which work with top global corporations, cannot let an activity like moonlighting continue because the data of the customer has to be safe.

"At a young age, we don't want to see them penalized, violating the value systems," he said. As per the report , TCS has over 6 lakh employees on its rolls and has hired 1.35 lakh freshers in the last 18 months.

The company has a long-term commitment towards its employees, COO Subramaniam said, stressing that it is mutual and reciprocal in nature.

Also Read: Tech Mahindra CEO Supports Moonlighting

Linking Moonlighting To Work From Home

TCS COO Subramaniam also linked the issue of moonlighting with work from home (WFH), pointing out that once an employee is in the office, a lot of concerns are taken care of.

An employee can learn from the mentorship available in an office, and it can also expose her to higher levels of skill sets on display, which is not possible while working from home, he said, as per the PTI report.

He added that TCS would like to get the overall number of employees working from offices to a 70% level before sliding towards its long-term target of having only 25% of the workforce in offices by 2025.

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Speaking Of Freshers¡¯ Salaries

As per the ET report, TCS COO said, "People come in with a basic skill and within a matter of 18 months they have the opportunity to double their salary through training and meaningful contribution. That's the way that we have structured it. They should have some skin in the game."

Adding to this, he said that we also want to observe how committed they are to learning. Salaries are a combination of many things.

"We believe that we are giving them a package which is more than adequate for the cost of living in India."

"You will join us as a fresher and go through that training perhaps, pass successfully, then we tell you ¡®look, if you take these programs and become more relevant to the customers, you will get an increment¡¯. Then there's an opportunity for you to go overseas and stay even more relevant to you as well as the company. So, I think we pay well," he said.

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