Stories of toxic workplaces flood social media after death of 26-year-old EY employee

The death of a 26-year-old Ernst & Young (EY) employee in Pune, attributed to excessive workload, has started a social media conversation on toxic workplaces. Anna Sebastian Perayil died on July 20, just four months after she joined EY as a chartered accountant. In a letter addressed to EY India chairman Rajiv Memani, her mother, Anita Augustine, blamed “overwhelming” work pressure at the consulting firm for her daughter’s death.

Anita said that the workload at EY took a toll on Anna “physically, emotionally, and mentally” - to the point where the 26-year-old was working late nights and weekends, often reaching her PG “utterly exhausted” and collapsing into bed without changing her clothes.

(Also read: EY Pune employee, 26, died due to work stress. No one from company attended her funeral)

Anita claimed that none of Anna’s colleagues, including her manager, attended her funeral as she called for larger reforms at EY’s work culture in her letter.

“Toxic work culture”

The letter had an explosive effect on social media where thousands of Indians shared commiserations and their own stories of working at toxic organisations. Many more joined Anita Augustine in calling for larger reforms at companies where overwork is normalised and even glorified.

“This is so heartbreaking. Work culture in India is horrid. Pay is dismal, exploitation is max. There are zero repercussions & no remorse on the part of employers who routinely harass workers. Worst part? Overworking & underpaying are lauded. We are an unhappy nation for a reason,” wrote X user Radhika Roy.

“Big Four auditing firms in India are infamous for their work-life imbalance and stressful working hours since over a decade now,” said Hussain Haidry. Big Four refers to the four big accounting firms - Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

CA Rishika Gupta urged her X followers to remember that “late sitting” culture is normalised not just in Ernst & Young but also many other corporates.

Singer Paushali Sahu highlighted the long-term effects of overwork, writing: “Haven't been able to stop thinking about the young woman. It reminded me of the times when I worked for 14+ hours a day with zero downtime sans work stress, even during weekends. The long term effects of those years still linger deep within me.”

Expert's take

“In a lot of corporate setups, employees are highly stressed because of reasons such as lack of perceived support, long working hours and intense competition. Employees do not open up about work struggles as they fear that they might be judged. So the onus is on the organizations to create a culture, create a safe space where employees are able to speak out or ask for support in their work circle,” said Dr Jini K Gopinath, Chief Psychology Officer at mental health startup YourDost.