Moonlighting could ruin WFH prospects

As the world adjusts to the workplace that has been re-shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic, many “homers,” a term coined by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) for people working from home, refuse to report back in the office for various reasons, one of which is having two jobs.

The demands of working a full-time job from home were apparently not enough to prevent some from taking on an extra one, the WSJ reports. 

Based on a survey by American monthly magazine Fast Company which polled 1,022 respondents,  57 per cent of remote employees are taking on second jobs. 13 per cent admits to working 10 to 20 hours for another company. 

Remote is hard to manage, much less lead. Virtual leadership is a mystery. The nature of remote work allows for minimally acceptable performance and weak enforcement means. There is no readily available mechanism for supervisors to insist on excellence or assign ancillary tasks. And, there’s no compelling evidence that remote work is as productive as office work. Remote workers can phone (Zoom) it in. 

Fast Company’s survey on homers have interesting findings:

• While most remote workers use extra time to better themselves, some take on a second job. 
• Many report that they are so bored at home that they take on other jobs to keep them entertained.
• Leading remote workers is difficult. Keeping employees is a challenge but making them work only for you is another matter to be addressed.

Remote work is probably here to stay, but employee loyalty, moonlighting and management issues mean that new policies need to be established to set expectations.

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