> if an employee hired for 8h does 4h more on the side as contractor the employing company gets 'cheated out' of productive time and this is especially true in

> if an employee hired for 8h does 4h more on the side as contractor the employing company gets 'cheated out' of productive time and this is especially true in a job that require fairly constant concentration No. Just no. Side projects are another way to up your skills. In addition to side projects I've done for pay, I've done them for a charitable organization on a volunteer basis, fundamental science research group (small fee, practically volunteer work). Even if my day-job suffered temporarily, they've still benefited because each of these projects involved learning/practicing something new.