Amid low single-digit salary hikes and increasing uncertainty in the job market, the IT industry is seeing a sharp rise in moonlighting-related verifications, The Times of India reported. Companies are now scanning for overlapping employment — clear indicators of concurrent roles or undisclosed prior engagements. These discrepancies are automatically flagged and escalated for client review. The final call on whether a risk or policy breach has occurred is left to the client, based on their internal rules, risk appetite, and discussions with the candidate.
Recently, an Indian techie, Soham Parekh, faced serious allegations of moonlighting after several US startup founders accused him of secretly working for multiple companies at the same time. Soham Parekh, whose CV claims a master’s degree from Georgia Tech, came under scrutiny after Suhail Doshi, co-founder and former CEO of Mixpanel, publicly warned others about him.
The allegations quickly gained support. Nicolai Ouporov, co-founder of Fleet AI, said, “He has been doing this for years and works at more than 4 startups at any given time.”
Some call him a fraud, some hail him as a genius. However, Soham Parekh may not be alone.
Background verification firm OnGrid has reported a surge in screening activity. In just the first six months of the current year, it processed 23,000 employment verifications — already 87% of the 26,000 verifications carried out during all of last year. A major reason for this increase is employment history checks, which are often used to detect moonlighting. These checks flagged 2,900 cases in the first half of this year, compared to 2,201 in the whole of last year.
OnGrid tracks Universal Account Numbers (UANs), employment timelines, and personal records to detect overlapping jobs and undisclosed roles. Manav Jain, chief business officer at OnGrid, said that moonlighting cases increased after the pandemic, with the rise of remote, hybrid, and freelance models. These flexible working arrangements made it easier for some individuals to take up second jobs. Economic pressure also pushed professionals to look for additional income or job security. During the pandemic, many employees were not fully engaged during usual working hours, and in the absence of strict monitoring tools, some used this extra time to take on other work. Over time, this became a habit for some individuals.
Rahul Maheshwari, a former Google employee and now the founder of edtech platform Linux Socials, said many professionals are turning to teaching as a side job to deal with job instability. “Several work as freelancers, taking teaching assignments without going through the PF route. I currently have around 20 professionals from top MNCs who double up as instructors on the platform—many are here to cope with the current instability,” he said. Maheshwari himself was asked to stop sharing tutorials on YouTube and LinkedIn after HR classified it as moonlighting. Though he insisted that teaching did not count as moonlighting, he chose to resign to avoid workplace friction, even though the teaching did not interfere with his primary role.
Another background verification firm, AuthBridge, reported that 5 out of every 100 candidates are found engaging in dual employment. Nearly 90% of such cases come from the IT services sector, especially in the states of Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. In one instance, a developer was working for five companies at the same time, including two direct competitors. AuthBridge uncovered this overlap through PF records and Form 26AS.
The shift to remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic also triggered a sharp rise in cases of multiple employment. OnGrid found one candidate who had joined 50 companies in a single year and had a total record of working with 141 employers over seven years. In 2021, she added 21 new employers and was simultaneously on the payroll of 10 companies. This included full-time positions at well-known names, startups, and established multinational firms—not just freelance or short-term contracts.
The moonlighting issue has drawn serious attention from top industry leaders as well. In 2022, Wipro chairman Rishad Premji said the company had fired 300 employees for working with direct competitors while still being on Wipro’s payroll.
(with ToI inputs)
Recently, an Indian techie, Soham Parekh, faced serious allegations of moonlighting after several US startup founders accused him of secretly working for multiple companies at the same time. Soham Parekh, whose CV claims a master’s degree from Georgia Tech, came under scrutiny after Suhail Doshi, co-founder and former CEO of Mixpanel, publicly warned others about him.
The allegations quickly gained support. Nicolai Ouporov, co-founder of Fleet AI, said, “He has been doing this for years and works at more than 4 startups at any given time.”
Some call him a fraud, some hail him as a genius. However, Soham Parekh may not be alone.
Background verification firm OnGrid has reported a surge in screening activity. In just the first six months of the current year, it processed 23,000 employment verifications — already 87% of the 26,000 verifications carried out during all of last year. A major reason for this increase is employment history checks, which are often used to detect moonlighting. These checks flagged 2,900 cases in the first half of this year, compared to 2,201 in the whole of last year.
OnGrid tracks Universal Account Numbers (UANs), employment timelines, and personal records to detect overlapping jobs and undisclosed roles. Manav Jain, chief business officer at OnGrid, said that moonlighting cases increased after the pandemic, with the rise of remote, hybrid, and freelance models. These flexible working arrangements made it easier for some individuals to take up second jobs. Economic pressure also pushed professionals to look for additional income or job security. During the pandemic, many employees were not fully engaged during usual working hours, and in the absence of strict monitoring tools, some used this extra time to take on other work. Over time, this became a habit for some individuals.
Rahul Maheshwari, a former Google employee and now the founder of edtech platform Linux Socials, said many professionals are turning to teaching as a side job to deal with job instability. “Several work as freelancers, taking teaching assignments without going through the PF route. I currently have around 20 professionals from top MNCs who double up as instructors on the platform—many are here to cope with the current instability,” he said. Maheshwari himself was asked to stop sharing tutorials on YouTube and LinkedIn after HR classified it as moonlighting. Though he insisted that teaching did not count as moonlighting, he chose to resign to avoid workplace friction, even though the teaching did not interfere with his primary role.
Another background verification firm, AuthBridge, reported that 5 out of every 100 candidates are found engaging in dual employment. Nearly 90% of such cases come from the IT services sector, especially in the states of Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. In one instance, a developer was working for five companies at the same time, including two direct competitors. AuthBridge uncovered this overlap through PF records and Form 26AS.
The shift to remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic also triggered a sharp rise in cases of multiple employment. OnGrid found one candidate who had joined 50 companies in a single year and had a total record of working with 141 employers over seven years. In 2021, she added 21 new employers and was simultaneously on the payroll of 10 companies. This included full-time positions at well-known names, startups, and established multinational firms—not just freelance or short-term contracts.
The moonlighting issue has drawn serious attention from top industry leaders as well. In 2022, Wipro chairman Rishad Premji said the company had fired 300 employees for working with direct competitors while still being on Wipro’s payroll.
(with ToI inputs)
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