An Elegy on the Death of a Young Professional

New Delhi: What can you say about a 26-year-old girl who died? That she was brilliant. And ambitious. That she wanted to make a mark. That she hoped the brand she worked for, cared. Anna Sebastian Perayil, a Pune-based Chartered Accountant would have been over the moon four months back. Landing a job in the Big Four is a dream for many. An offer letter from EY would have been her shot at the moon. It wasn’t.

Four months into an ‘overwhelming’ and ‘exhausting’ job, Anna died, reportedly of a cardiac event triggered by stress. Her funeral was marked by the absence of any EY employee.

Anna’s mother, Anita Augustine, has levelled accusations on EY’s toxic work culture in an email to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani. She wrote, “When Anna joined this specific team, she was told that many employees had resigned due to the excessive workload, and the team manager told her, “Anna, you must stick around and change everyone’s opinion about our team.” My child didn’t realize she would pay for that with her life.”

“This is a systemic issue that goes beyond individual managers or teams. The relentless demands and the pressure to meet unrealistic expectations are not sustainable, and they cost us the life of a young woman with so much potential. Anna was a young professional, just starting her career. Like many in her position, she did not have the experience or the agency to draw boundaries or push back against unreasonable demands. She did not know how to say no. She was trying to prove herself in a new environment, and in doing so, she pushed herself beyond her limits. And now, she is no longer with us,” she adds.

Toxic Work Culture

While EY or Rajiv Memani are yet to respond to the accusations, toxic workplaces are a reality. Organisations want to keep costs low, managers are burdened with lofty and sometimes unrealistic targets, and employees have no wriggle room. Saying no is hardly an option, and firing dissenting employees is commonplace.

Cut-throat competition within the company promotes bitter rivalry. Fewer lucrative jobs outside diminish bargaining power of employees. White collar workers can’t form unions either. All in all, employees live on the mercy of their managers, no matter what the stated company policies are. This needs an overhaul.

The West is graduating towards flexi working hours, priorotising work-life balance, and taking long sabbaticals. They can afford to. India needs to find its own sweet spot. We can’t celebrate 70-hour work weeks, as the revered NR Narayana Murthy proposes and startup icon Bhavish Aggarwal agrees with. We can’t reduce human life to a head count or a number in an excel sheet.

Work culture or individual’s ability?

While tragic, was it Anna’s inability to say no, or her determination to take more stress than she ought to, to make a point to her managers or herself? Some industry veterans I spoke to say it is on the individual to take or deflect stressful situations, and GenZ (those born between 1995 and 2010) has better negotiation skills than its preceding generations.

“Today’s generation does not hesitate to say no. They are not scared of losing a job as they feel they do have options,” Rituparna Chakraborty, co-founder TeamLease, a job site. “The fact undue pressure is put is a reality. We all know but today’s generation does not take s#*t,” she adds.

“I don’t see it as GenZ inability to deal with it… we cannot generalise simply because even in previous generations, we had burn outs or people having high BP and other stress ailments… it boils down to what the individual wants,” said Dr Srinath Sridharan, a policy researcher and corporate advisor.

Lloyd Mathias, a corporate veteran and angel investor agrees. “While unreasonable work-pressure and workplace bullying (much like ragging in college) is unacceptable, different employees manage this (cope?) differently. An individual’s capacity to cope can be an outcome of multiple factors – childhood trauma, upbringing, own resilience etc,” he said. “But offices need to realise that every individual is unique, and despite extremely talented and capable, may be fighting their own inner battles. So empathy is key,” he added.

Empowerment, real or fake?

Employee empowerment for most organisations is a paper tiger. Policies have no real teeth and if employees try to bite, they often end up being at the receiving end. “There is no empowerment in general. The fundamental disconnect I see if old school HR wants ‘command and hierarchy.’ New age cohorts expect or fare better with ‘impact and influence’ leadership,” said Sridharan.

Rajiv Memani could respond to Anna’s grieving mother, or may choose not to. Anna’s story will not remain the headlines for long. Workplaces will not change overnight. But it’s time for corporate leaders and HR heads to seriously take a moment and seek an objective, realistic view of what their organisation’s culture really is, and how they can prevent an Anna in their team from succumbing to stress.

Rest in peace, Anna. Love means never having to say you’re sorry. The corporate world didn’t love you, and we, as a nation, are sorry.