Death prompts debate over 'toxic' work culture in India

Mother of woman who died within four months of joining a consulting firm says 'workload and long hours' are to blame

- SHAHANA YASMIN

The death of an Ernst & Young (EY) employee, allegedly due to a gruelling workload, has triggered a conversation about the taxing work culture at India’s biggest firms.

Anna Sebastian Perayil, 26, worked as a chartered accountant with SR Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune, a city in the western state of Maharashtra. Ms Perayil died four months into the job, from what her father described to The News Minute as a combination of “multiple issues including acid reflux, work stress, [and] work pressure”.

According to a letter that her mother, Anita Augustine, wrote to the head of EY India, Ms Perayil started working at EY Pune in March, but “the workload, new environment, and long hours took a toll on her physically, emotionally, and mentally”.

Ms Augustine went on to describe how in July she took Ms Perayil to see a doctor after she said she had been experiencing “chest constrictions” for about a week. The doctor prescribed antacids and suggested that Ms Perayil “wasn’t getting enough sleep and was eating very late”. Despite this, Ms Augustine wrote, her daughter continued to work “late into the night, even on weekends, with no opportunity to catch her breath”.

“Anna’s experience sheds light on a work culture that seems to glorify overwork while neglecting the very human beings behind the roles. This is not just about my daughter, it’s about every young professional who joins EY filled with hopes and dreams, only to be crushed under the weight of unrealistic expectations,” Ms Augustine wrote. “Anna’s death should serve as a wake-up call for EY.”

Ms Augustine said no one from EY attended Anna’s funeral, adding that she reached out to the management afterwards but received no reply. EY said “work pressure” was not the reason for Ms Perayil’s death.