Over the years, people have started glorifying toxic work culture which ends up making employees sacrifice their personal life, including their mental and physical health.
The fact that people are lauding those who succumb to the hustle culture in the name of ‘peak productivity’ has become a topic of serious discussion online.
Earlier when an Indian CEO patted the back of an employee who slept in an auto after a hectic day at work sparked debate on how these baneful practices shouldn’t be appreciated.
Now, another Indian startup was seen flexing employees who worked continuously for 30 hours without acknowledging the fact that it can have a negative impact on them.
The oral care brand Perfora recently made it to Shark Tank India Season 2. After securing investment from the Sharks, they got a roaring response from customers across the country.
They were swamped with orders. However, to fulfill the requirement, made their existing employees work beyond normal human capacity.
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The brand recently featured their Account Manager on their Instagram stories and boasted that he had hardly slept in the last 30 days due to the work pressure. They wrote:
“Meet Sonu: Our Account Manager at Partner Warehouse. He has hardly slept in the last 30 days. He looks after the entire order packing and dispatching. #unsaidheroes”
In another Instagram video, they shared that their team has been working till 3:00 AM for the past 30 days to ensure the customers receive their orders on time.
Watch:
View this post on Instagram
While the brand is proud of these #unsaidheroes, people online thought they were whitewashing the toxic culture of making employees overwork in the name of dedication and hard work.
This is how they reacted:
for the millionth time, your startup employee not having slept well in 30 days is not a flex pic.twitter.com/5CtHfBu6KT
— dolo 650 umbridge (@SatinTweety) March 19, 2023
@Perforaofficial that’s not the flex you think it is. Hire more people. No one’s dying to use products/services at the cost of another human. Do better.
— Tweeti (@tweetwalibai) March 19, 2023
Toxic work culture whitewashed as commitment for no reason..these guys just scared of losing their jobs can’t say no..like most of us..
— ignorance is plizz (@Rmon13) March 20, 2023
Wow what a toxic work environment …
— Rj (@digitalwriter1) March 21, 2023
and he never got paid extra
— Kiran_Ashok (@ChromaticFringe) March 22, 2023
Pathetic- I guess @cmohry may like to refer this to labor welfare department for remedial measures
— piscean (@piscean_e_ind) March 22, 2023
There’s no way they’re serious 😮
— Vivek (@vivekisbored) March 20, 2023
We really need strict labor laws and a proper place to report such stuff https://t.co/dBLcNhJFBO
— Han forever solo (@frustratedpepe) March 21, 2023
The audacity of startups https://t.co/WFgL01Lt40
— BadTweetsandMe (@ishaneeb7) March 21, 2023
why is account manager not sleeping lmao isn’t extreme lethargy liable to faults in work? https://t.co/ept95zZqH6
— shei🫶 (@eeliehs) March 20, 2023
There should be strict labor laws, such that it protects workers from this level of exploitation, and such companies being held accountable to it. https://t.co/7IZUs4qyhp
— Kushal (@kushfehmi) March 20, 2023
companies like @Perforaofficial glorifying such work cultures talk a lot about what's wrong with today's work expectations!! such a stupid move as PR. https://t.co/aZ2rmIGGBW
— David (@itsmedsam) March 20, 2023
Perfora has raised a total of $3.7M in Series-A funding, as well ₹80L investment on Shark Tank@peyushbansal @namitathapar @vineetasng are you guys funding startups that exploits its workforce? Is it not sufficiently funded to hire to meet rising demand? https://t.co/ovzeJpb0A8
— sid wants to sleep (@wakeupsiddd_) March 20, 2023
Nothing like leveraging a person's power, stamina, adrenaline rush, motivation, ego & insecurities to… checks notes…make your warehouse run smoothly. Nothing like hooking yourself to this "dream," this collective social delusion. I was this person. Capitalism is a trip. https://t.co/Do5hRuqNni
— ATCG Is Running Amok (@zarana_) March 20, 2023
Can they ensure that they will never fire Sonu? https://t.co/KZt8AfRjjn
— Luca Brasi (@Luca_Braasi) March 19, 2023
While some companies continue to exploit employees in the name of commitment, there are others who come up with innovative ideas to ensure their employees are well-rested to increase their productivity.
What are your thoughts on this?