'Employees can take up gig work', says Infosys

BENGALURU: IT major Infosys is now allowing employees to take up gig work with the prior consent of their manager and BP (business partner)-HR. Infosys is said to be the first company in the IT industry that has come out with guidelines around gig working.

"Any employee, who wishes to take up gig work, may do so, with the prior consent of their manager and BP-HR, and in their personal time, for establishments that do not compete with Infosys or Infosys' clients. We count on our employees to ensure that this does not impact their ability to work with Infosys effectively," the email said.

Recently, in post-Q2 earnings conference, Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said the company encourages employees to pursue their interests outside of work. "But only with the prior consent," he said.

In addition, as per the Infosys employment contract, employees may not work in areas where there is an actual or potential conflict of interest or by accepting dual employment, the email added.

The company further added that it has created several opportunities for gig working internally through its Accelerate platform that enables managers to list gig work jobs for employees. Accelerate allows skill-based job matches to recommend the right gigs for employees and incentivises both gig workers and hiring managers, it said.

While announcing the results recently, Parekh said that they have let go of some employees over the past 12 months who were doing blatant work in two specific companies where there were confidentiality issues.