In the race to build India’s next unicorn, an essential ingredient has gone missing — kindness. As boardrooms obsess over valuations and founders chase glory, a generation of workers is quietly crumbling under the weight of toxic work cultures, relentless expectations, and a complete disregard for mental well-being.
A System That’s Breaking People, Not Building Them
India now has one of the most overworked workforces in the world. According to the International Labour Organization, nearly half of Indian workers clock more than 49 hours a week — second only to Bhutan. Yet this grueling pace is not matched with compassion or care. Instead, it’s become normalised, glorified even, under the guise of ambition and hustle.
But at what cost?
A Zepto Employee’s Heartbreaking Account
A recent viral post by a former contractual employee at Zepto paints a grim picture of what it means to be at the bottom of the corporate ladder. A fresh graduate, desperate for a break, accepted what he thought was a data analyst position. Instead, he was plunged into logistical grunt work, stripped of dignity and self-worth.
His job had no structure, no HR protection, and came with verbal abuse as a daily staple. He recalls managers using slurs, making threatening gestures, and showing zero empathy — even when he was ill. “I lost my confidence. My identity. My self-worth,” he writes, “I didn’t feel like a fresher anymore—I felt like a failure.”
Ola Krutrim: Where AI Dreams Collide with Reality
More tragically, an engineer at Ola Krutrim, part of its data science team, died by suicide on May 8. Though the company claimed he was on personal leave and receiving rest as requested, Reddit posts — corroborated by anonymous coworkers — suggest otherwise. They allege he was made to handle an entire project alone after his team quit, all while enduring verbal abuse and emotional neglect.
Leadership, especially Gen AI Head Rajkiran Panuganti, has been called out for toxic behaviour, with allegations of public berating and abandonment. Glassdoor reviews and social media feedback reinforce this pattern of mistreatment, also pointing fingers at founder Bhavish Aggarwal, known for explosive temper and extreme punitive measures.
A Tragedy at EY: Another Wake-Up Call
Then there’s Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old chartered accountant who joined Ernst & Young (EY) with big dreams — only to lose her life four months in. Her mother’s open letter describes a work culture that demanded weekends and late nights, draining her daughter of energy, sleep, and spirit.
“She experienced anxiety and sleeplessness,” wrote her mother. “The relentless demands and pressure to meet unrealistic expectations are not sustainable, and they cost us the life of a young woman with so much potential.”
EY has denied wrongdoing, but the incident sparked widespread backlash, with many former consultants and employees coming forward to share similar experiences of burnout, humiliation, and overwork.
The Culture of Overwork: A Deep-Seated Problem
These are not isolated incidents. This is a pattern. For years, influential voices — from Narayana Murthy to Bhavish Aggarwal — have praised 70-hour workweeks and dismissed work-life balance as a myth. Founders ask freshers to “grind it out” for 18 hours a day, claiming it builds character. It might or might not build character, but it certainly builds multi-crore bank balances for some corporate honchos. Perish the thought of tracking quality of work over quantum of work.
But what it’s actually building is a mental health crisis, masked by startup glamour and economic jargon.
Symbolic Steps, No Systemic Change
Some companies boast about offering period leave or tying up with mental health startups — but these are often symbolic, not systemic. Without genuine cultural reform and accountability at leadership levels, these gestures remain band-aids on a deep wound.
As labour economist Shyam Sunder rightly points out, there needs to be a mindset shift — from firms and employees alike. “Even in business schools,” he says, “students are tacitly told that working long hours to earn a high salary is normal and desirable.”
Redefining What Growth Looks Like
It’s time to stop measuring progress solely by valuation charts and funding rounds. It’s time to build institutions that are caring and empathetic, where people are not just resources, but humans with lives and limits.
Chandrasekhar Sripada of ISB frames it well: “We’re still confusing hard work with productive work. The point of technology is to reduce human work — so why are working hours getting longer?”
Where Do We Go From Here?
There are better models to follow. Scandinavian countries have reimagined productivity with gentler, more human-first approaches. India doesn’t lack the talent — it lacks the willpower to evolve its work ethic.
It’s time for India Inc. to realise that true greatness doesn’t come from breaking people — it comes from building them up. From mentorship, not micromanagement. From empathy, not intimidation. From support, not silence.
Let’s not wait for another obituary to reflect on our priorities. Let’s pause the unicorn chase for a moment, and ask ourselves what kind of companies we’re really building, and if we’re leaving our humanity behind in the pursuit of paise.
