Narayana Murthy, the founder and former chairman of Infosys,has cautioned young professionals about trends like moonlighting and working from home.
Murthy stressed that working from home or picking up side jobs would not result in successful careers and advised young professionals to put an emphasis on morals and diligence.
Asia Economic Dialogue 2023
"Anybody who has told you that work ethics are not important, hard work is not important and laziness is good, they are not your well-wishers," Murthy said at the Asia Economic Dialogue 2023.
The event was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and policy research think tank Pune International Centre.
According to him, only a small portion of the Indian workforce puts in a lot of effort, and he bemoaned the fact that the majority of workers lack a strong work ethic and discipline.
Former CEO of one of India's largest IT companies
The former president, CEO, and chairman of one of India's largest IT companies added that developing strong work ethics was crucial to achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi's objectives.
"For the first time in 300 years, the country has tasted some success and we have to consolidate on the little success we have achieved and aim for bigger success. There is no country in the world which has enhanced its prosperity, achieved economic progress and earned the respect of the world without working hard," he said.
Moonlighting in IT sector
Moonlighting in the IT sector became a topic of discussion in the second half of 2022 after the country's top four IT firms—HCL, Wipro, Infosys, and TCS—rejected the practice. Many of the larger IT firms have fired employees who worked second jobs.
Opinions varied, though, with many in the tech sector doubting the "ethical" nature of moonlighting as long as workers upheld their employment agreements.
Former Infosys director TV Mohandas Pai claimed that no employer cared what an employee did after work hours.
The supporters argued that a large number of business leaders in the IT sector had actually started their own businesses by working extra jobs in the beginning.
