They had a bright future cut short by their workload
A tragedy, more a warning label on corporate life than a news story, it reflects that a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant, Anna Sebastian Perayil, died just four months into her dream job at EY Pune. Anna is described by her family to have been met with "work stress" so severe that it pushed her health to the brink after she passed her CA exams in 2023.
Her mother, Anita Augustine, took the matter straight to the inbox of Rajiv Memani, EY's India boss, accusing the company of treating its employees more like robots than people. The firm's so-called "human rights" values, she pointed out, seem to exist only on glossy HR brochures and nowhere else.
Glorying overwork: a company hobby?
Being the typical hardworking new employee, Anna was considered "burdened with backbreaking work" by her mother's email. She burned nights and weekends because nothing paints the "team player" flag more than burning the midnight oil for free. All this, of course, in a bid to live up to the expectations of the firm. The payoff? Exhaustion, anxiety, and deteriorating health because quitting wasn't an option for a go-getter like Anna. After all, quitting is for quitters.
With sleepless nights and panic attacks, it would seem that she had pretty clear indications of stress. Her manager thought that the best way to handle this was to pile more work onto her and deliver motivational speeches like, "Stick around, change everyone's opinion about the team." Sounds like great advice for someone already grinding themselves into the ground, right?
Meeting Deadlines and Meeting Your Maker?
The real kicker? Her boss's sense of timing. Tasks would suddenly materialize late in the day, in the middle of cricket matches, or—why not?—at night with deadlines set for the following morning. Nothing like the soothing sound of Slack notifications pinging you into a nervous breakdown. Even when the tension was broken with happy hour or the end-of-year party, senior leaders just casually said Anna would snap under her manager. Spoiler alert: They weren't wrong.
The Slow Burn to Burnout
Anna's family remembers how she kept pushing beyond her limits, even after they'd asked her to quit. Quitting isn't part of corporate culture-overwork is. Anna's mother said of her daughter's routine: "She'd come home, fall on her bed, often still in her work clothes, and then wake up to yet another avalanche of e-mails. Fun fact: There's no "Do Not Disturb" button in the corporate world when you're a junior employee. When Anna finally spoke out about the unrealistic demands, her response from the boss was as reassuring as a warm hug: You can work at night. That's what we all do.
Burnout: The Gift That Keeps on Giving
Even with all the red flags waving, everything came crashing down with chest pains, which a doctor concluded was merely a lack of sleep and poor eating habits. No big deal, just the body screaming for mercy. Then there was July 20, 2024, the end of Anna's battle against the corporate grind.
EY Pune, perhaps as part of their much-touted "values," made it seem as if they couldn't even spare themselves to attend the funeral. Who's going to get a good night's sleep when you are racing against time to meet deadlines, right?
Right to Disconnect? I would say this is a Right to Collapse
The email from her mother was less an obituary of the daughter than an appeal to end change: EY should "look inwards and ponder on their treatment of the employees before letting such talent depart". Since the firm was banging its drum about support for human rights, that was okay, except when it tried to show respect for actual humans.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, they introduce this radical concept called "Right to Disconnect." By God, you can be unaccessible 24/7. Maybe one day this innovation will land in Indian corporate culture where working yourself to death remains the ultimate act of a "team player.".
With inputs from agencies
Image Source: Multiple agencies
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