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Journalism of Courage
Work-life balance and corporate burnout have become hot topics online, and one post from Gurgaon has added more fuel to the fire. A local employee took to Reddit to vent his frustration after his company scheduled a 5 am call to align with US clients, sparking a larger conversation about how far employees are expected to go.
In his post on r/Gurgaon, he described the toll such schedules take. “Now I have to wake up at 4.30 am (because apparently, being late is illegal in corporate India) to please a client who’s lounging comfortably in their cushy office in the US,” he said.
He pushed back the familiar defence that “You get paid for this!”, asking if a paycheck means workers should “just throw [their] health out the window.” He also called out the culture of being “always on”, wondering aloud if this is what modern corporate culture demands. “Sacrificing sleep and well-being to always be on call like some sort of human robot?” he asked.
His post ended with an open question to others in the same boat: “Anyone else here with me? How do you survive this? Or are we all just ‘expected’ to function as caffeine-powered machines with no time for life?”
The post quickly went viral, drawing a mix of empathy and criticism. Some commenters argued it was part of the reality of working with global teams, while others pointed out the need to hold discussions around work-life balance.
A user wrote, “I did this for more than a decade and then left for a fully Indian company. Yes, this new place is smaller and is a lala company, but at least I go to work at 9:30 and come back at 6:30 and don’t have to worry after that, coz everyone else is also in India and is at home resting.”
Another user wrote, “Can I give you a reality check? This rant is unnecessary. This is an MNC, and we need to adjust according to their time, and I am sure you must have known this before you subscribed for this. Indian companies don’t have such odd timings; they typically follow 9 to 6, but due to timing zone differences, MNCs don’t.”
A third person commented, “Tbh if it is an off-call or some time-bound project, I will adjust. Else take flexibility in work timings, baaaki bhai learn and move on with higher CTC.” A fourth individual suggested, “Then leave. It’s simple. That’s what I did. And yes, corporate life in India is trash and always will be.”
