Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old chartered accountant, passed away on July 20, 2024, allegedly due to immense work stress and a toxic work environment at Ernst & Young (EY) in Pune. Anna had started working at EY in March 2024 but faced long hours, exhaustion, and overwhelming work demands. Despite experiencing chest pain, anxiety, sleeplessness, and stress, Anna continued to work hard, wanting to make a good impression. She often worked late into the night and on weekends, with unofficial tasks assigned to her by word of mouth.
Anna’s mother, Anita Augustine, wrote a letter to EY Chairman Rajiv Memani, urging the company to improve working conditions. She described her daughter’s struggle with the excessive workload and her determination to not complain. Anita hopes that Anna’s tragic passing serves as a wake-up call for EY to prioritize employee well-being and create a healthier work environment.
This incident has started a massive uproar on social media, with innumerable people calling out corporate offices for their toxic work culture. Have a look:
It’s not EY. It’s the overall work culture that we have which is pathetic. A cousin of mine works for one of the Big 4. She moved out of country , the same company has a peaceful work culture in Aus office. Here she was under immense stress & overloaded. https://t.co/Y11BTJIo64
— krithika sivaswamy (@krithikasivasw) September 17, 2024
Foundational Beliefs of Big4 Managers:
1. Don’t discuss people by names. They are a ‘resource’. Hence they aren’t deserving of any empathy or humanity.
2. If a project requires 10 people, 4 should be allotted on it so profitability can be increased. If resources have to work… https://t.co/aUH1R5MSc2
— Hardik Rajgor (@Hardism) September 18, 2024
Sad. Toxic work culture is deeply embedded in Indian offices, glorifying overwork and sacrificing mental health. I have seen junior employees face unrealistic expectations, long hours, and a complete lack of work-life balance, leading to chronic stress and burnout. Many feel… https://t.co/kzlroaPNwP
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) September 18, 2024
Heartbreaking! This is how the 70 hour work week mantras manifest into horrible workspaces. Getting a certain job is dream to many because that’s often our way out of the socioeconomic class we belong to. Hope we all get the courage someday to live life on our own terms. Prayers. https://t.co/R9hWABS9HZ
— Shridhar V (@iimcomic) September 17, 2024
It’s heartbreaking to realize that after yrs of studying, hustling & dreaming, this is the reality u face. Is this truly the reward for parents who selflessly nurtured their child’s ambitions? No one should endure toxic work culture.Before it consumes u,step away, quit & restart. https://t.co/zPiZmDMBbS
— CA Oshin Tiwari (@OshinTiwari1) September 17, 2024
Unfortunately, workplaces glorify super long back breaking working hours as the only ladder to success. The 70-hour nonsense from those in high places also fail to take into account that the body and the mind needs rest to function without breakdown. https://t.co/kvfkM5VXyQ
— Jency Jacob (@jencyjac) September 17, 2024
Haven’t been able to stop thinking about this letter. We need to hold workplaces to account for a toxic work culture. Work-life balance shouldn’t be a unicorn-level rarity in a job, it should be the norm. And there is nothing more “urgent” than your health, and well-being. https://t.co/h7weBLOSeZ
— Maanvi (@Maanvi2501) September 18, 2024
Anna’s tragic death should serve as a moment of reflection for every CXO and anybody who manages a team
Companies should reconsider glorifying overwork disguised as meritocracy
Leaders who call for meetings and talk about strategy, i.e, an expected outcome, without knowing how… https://t.co/KnEkSEbtEt
— Able Joseph (@ablejoseph) September 18, 2024
Anna’s story is of many corporate employees in India, not limited to EY.
Hustle and late hours are glorified over boundaries and work life balance. Indian employees need a boundary setting masterclass, otherwise they will continue to be exploited. https://t.co/5Ah89G6BUT
— Rahul (@rahulkshetry) September 17, 2024
Everyone should be aware of this, I too, broke my back working 18 hours a day, when i worked at @hcltech as a fresher and got not acknowledgement or empathy, let alone recognition. The #HR refer to human resources as just resources and often forget they are human. #EY #CA #HCL https://t.co/8xCyDlKngX
— AB🇮🇳 (@abhii_tripathi) September 17, 2024
One of my very close friends succumbed to death due to stress and “work burnout” in 2017. He was working for PwC Bangalore. He used to always complain of long work hours (14-16hrs was normal).
Infact a huge hue and cry was made about this in facebook through one of his EY frnds… https://t.co/FnQdXm4pCG
— Mayank Makkar (@MayankMakkars) September 17, 2024
We hope corporate companies are moved by this incident to bring about solid changes in their work culture.