HYDERABAD: Robin Paul used to pop painkillers to fight a shifting back pain, which he developed over the last one year thanks to the endless number of hours he spends in front of his laptop while working from home. Now, the meds have stopped working on him and he has no choice but to just live with the pain.“Working at the office and working from home are two different experiences. We used to have games, take breaks and have fun. Ever since WFH started, my back is giving me trouble. I have applied for leave but it has not been sanctioned yet,” Robin, who works for a US-based call centre, says.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had released a report in which it stated that overworking is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people every year across the globe. There are many like Robin in the IT corridor of Hyderabad, who are overworked. His case may not seem that serious in the larger scheme of things, but it still is a cause for concern.
According to city-based body, Forum of IT Professionals (ForIT), many may have died in Hyderabad, too, because of being overworked, but the reason for these deaths is termed as heart attack or other chronic illnesses caused by stress. “Companies are making employees work for more than eight hours a day and five days a week. In Hyderabad, a software engineer works for over 10 hours a day,” C Praveen, the president of the forum, says. “It is a well-known fact that work can cause stress. And, overworking can worsen it.”
Sameena, an analyst at a corporate giant, is left with no family time after she attends back-to-back meetings from 7 am to 11 pm. The mother of two also has to manage the household. “I get calls at 10 pm for meetings. After sleeping late, I have to wake up early for more meetings at 7 am. I am working non-stop. I do not get to spend any time with my family,” says Sameena, a resident of Manikonda.
According to Praveen, many young IT and ITES professionals in the city are suffering from kidney stones because they are poorly hydrated. “Besides, hypertension, which is linked with stress, is very common among them. WFH is much more difficult than working from office as employees are, sometimes, asked to work overtime. The pandemic has ruined their family life,” he says.
Dr Soumya, an in-house medical practitioner at a corporate firm, recalls the high number of hypertension, insomnia and depression cases she had received a few months ago when employees had just got back to working from office. “Surprisingly, many of them who visited me had not had Covid. They came to me with work-related stress, which was leading to their chronic lifestyle illnesses.”
Four-day work week
The proposed new labour codes provide companies with the flexibility of a four-day work week. So employees have to clock only 48 hours of work per week and should work for not more than eight hours a day. “The proposed four-day week is a joke in Hyderabad. Majority of the IT companies are not implementing it,” says Praveen.
Simple desk workouts
Stretch your back from time to time to avoid back pain and stress
Rotate your wrists clockwise and anti-clockwise to relieve wrist strain
Move your neck sideways and in circular motions, stretch your arms to avoid shoulder and neck strain
Every few minutes, look away from your screen to give your eyes a break
Learn to say ‘NO’ when you feel overworked. Let your boss know that you are feeling overworked