Work isn’t Worship, says Young India

A new hiring tracker survey claims that a large proportion of India’s young workforce doesn’t believe that going above and beyond at work is in their best interest. This shift is what has given rise to several new workplace trends such as moonlighting, ghosting culture, quiet quitting, and tang ping over the post-pandemic period. 

The philosophy of many of these trends strangely unifies into the thought that going above and beyond what one is expected to do at the workplace isn’t all that good for them. This was part of the findings from the Indeed quarter hiring tracker, which is largely focused around retrieving a favorable work-life balance, bringing in extra flexibility and going beyond the definitions of work. 

The research makes an effort to understand the causes of such trends and how businesses and employees may cooperate in order to better grasp how to retain top talent and lay the foundation of productive business growth.

Moonlighting isn’t all-pervading

Moonlighting has been heavily debated in the last few months. Employee moonlighting is a situation in which an employee works more than one job. Usually, the moonlighting employee has one full-time job and one part-time job, though some use the term to refer to any situation in which a person works for more than one company. 

Most moonlighting situations that may require an employer to develop a moonlighting policy occur when the moonlighting employee has a “primary,” usually full-time position, and a “secondary,” or part-time position. The study shows that less than one out of five employees (19%) surveyed want to moonlight in India with a large majority of employees (81%) saying they do not wish to take up another job alongside the one they currently work in; citing it as unethical.

In most sectors, a large percentage of employees feel moonlighting is unethical and violates the

contract. This is seen in sectors like healthcare and pharmaceutical (70% of employees), FMCG

(71%), and manufacturing (79%) echo similar beliefs about moonlighting. However, in the IT sector, a larger share of 43% of employees find moonlighting favorable. This highlights that the new age work trend is not equally prominent across sectors.

The top reasons why employees moonlight are to safeguard against job loss (37%) to supplement their incomes (27%). However, employers have a different view of this tendency –

31% believe that employees moonlight because they are not adequately engaged in their work,

and 23% believe that employees have ample time on hand for a second job.

Causes for quiet quitting is burnout

Another facet that gained ground is quiet quitting, which most employees felt resulted in stress and burnout. At the core, it rejects the idea of working towards exceeding expectations, instead preferring to disengage from doing anything beyond what’s the minimum need to keep their job. Over 33% of respondents cited low job satisfaction as the key to this trend. 

While 21% believe it is a lack of commitment to jobs. Employees cite a different set of reasons – 29% of employees surveyed believe that the feeling of burnout or being overwhelmed with work and 23% believe that lack of support by managers or bosses, has led to the growth of the trend.

Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed India said, “What people want from work has changed forever – It is not just about just clocking in hours and going back home. The pandemic has made employees step back and reevaluate priorities. In an era where talent is valued more than

ever, employers are shifting from a focus on employee experience to employee life experience –

more open PTOs, flexibility at work, a movement towards hybrid work etc.

As per Indeed India Hiring Tracker – 89% of job seekers surveyed were hired during the July to September 2022 quarter, indicating a healthy market for Indian jobseekers. Interestingly, there is

a rise in hustle culture – 43% of employers surveyed believe monetary considerations (earning more and leading a better lifestyle) are the reason for the popularity of the hustle culture. On the other hand, employees say that earning more, repaying loans (37%) and career growth (29%) are the reasons for hustle culture.