Dear Mr Pradeep, how does one deal with workplace burnout?
A young CA working for EY recently succumbed due to work pressure and no one from the office attended her funeral. Is this normal? What are your thoughts? What should one do in a situation like this? What is your advice to young professionals
Ans: Dear ,
You have raised a valid point which most of the young professionals are passing through. What a paradox in Indian context , at one hand,. public sector companies do have quite liberal working conditions and virtually No direct accountability to push your to the stress level to that high of opting for ending life. whereas in most private or proprietorship companies , right from reaching office in time to achieving the set objectives days after days , months after months keep on increasing. There is limit of tolerance of abusive behaviur or working styles , hence many find ways to move to other comanpies, some quite the job , some move out to other industries . There are many companies , why only talk about EY or IT sector companies ,I can give true exampples of BFSI/NBFCs/Telecom/ Industrial products companies / Real Estate cos/ FMCG/FMCD/Pharma cos where many avoid to opt for even when they are offered high packages , Reason, - High work pressure , abusive work conditions , Job Uncertainity , worst approach of top management . You are treated like slaves .
However taking own life as the CA at EY did was really heartwrenching . More so the approach of the management , After all a young talented girl . lost her life due to work pressure as mentiioned in her notes. To be honest , no one attending funeral from management side is not normal . In most cases some one represents management . May be, due to legal complications, Sr managers avoided attending the funeral . As far as my advice to young professionals is concerned , Be bold , take challenges as part of your life and when you feel . it is crossing your limits , You must expose the truth to top management as many a times , putting so much pressure on young professionals are the handiworks of Line managers or HR manager , which top management might not be aware about . She being a CA should not have any issues in finding another good paying job or even joining any CA firm as Sr manager taxation or in auditing. She should have fought back. You must have seen many army /police /CISF or Bank professionals commit suicide under work pressure which is really painful . One should fight back or find better options available than ending own life.