BENGALURU: The recent tragic death of a young employee has raised serious concerns about long working hours and work pressure across different sectors. From consulting to IT jobs, work pressure is intense, say HR experts and warn that the toxic work culture should not be glorified.
Sandeep Agrawal, director and founder of Teamlease Regtech, said burnout has become a norm in companies. Long working hours and staying late in office are considered a badge of honour.
“Companies are also exploiting the legal loopholes wherein the clause for overtime pay under Factories Act, 1948, is only applicable to ‘factory workers,’ leaving white-collar employees who are often designated as ‘officers’ or ‘executives’ out of scope,” he said.
He highlighted that the high attrition rates clearly highlights the importance of creating a supportive work environment that encourages work-life balance.
In its recent Talent Feasibility Report, KPMG in India stated quality of living, proximity to home, work-life balance and convenience of travel and transportation are critical factors from an employee’s perspective.
Janoo Motiani, co- founder & CEO, Reed & Willow, said the pressure is intense in the IT and consulting sectors given the sheer number of engineers entering the workforce each year. “This intense pressure is mirrored across industries, especially consulting, where long hours and high performance are expected,” Motiani said, highlighting her personal experience where she had to cut short her maternity leave by six weeks.
“It was my decision, but I saw how my two colleagues who chose to extend their maternity leave faced unnecessary questioning. It created pressure and signalled that taking shorter leaves was somehow rewarded,” she added.
Work culture varies across sectors and industries such as consulting, finance, and technology often involve high-pressure environments due to the nature of their work, said Viswanath PS, MD & CEO, Randstad India, a talent company. He said toxic work cultures should never be glorified and must not become a norm under any circumstances.
Consulting, fin, tech high-pressure jobs
Work culture varies across sectors and industries such as consulting, finance, and technology often involve high-pressure environments due to the nature of their work, said Viswanath PS, managing director & chief executive officer, Randstad India, a talent company. He said toxic work cultures should never be glorified and must not become a norm under any circumstances.