By 
13-02-2025
Klaus M. Schmidt Flores
South and East Asia Researcher,
Global Human Rights Defence.
In July 2024, a cardiac arrest led to the death of a 26-year-old employee of Ernst & Young (EY), Mrx. Anna Sebastian Perayil has initiated national debates on the intense work environment within the Indian corporate industry. The latter being incentivised as well due to a letter becoming public in which Mrx. Perayil’s mother wrote to EY, accusing her daughter’s employer of placing overworking conditions on her daughter which inevitably led to her death (Peters, 2024). Additionally, the relentless work environment from her daughter’s recent “dream job” was identified as a manner that led to the deterioration of Mrx. Perayil’s physical, emotional, and mental state (Peters, 2024). The spotlight placed on this case led to the implementation of national pressure resulting in the Indian government’s commitment to conducting a due diligence investigation, a manner in which the findings have not become public (Peters, 2024).
The attention is drawn to Mrx. Perayil’s case reflects India’s growing trend of overworking conditions placed on employees within the financial, technology, and consultancy sectors. These areas are being highlighted, as the overall conditions that these sectors recurrently present are frequently related to the issues contributing to rising stress levels and mental health concerns. These instances are usually due to the presence of long-hour schedules, intense deadlines, and high workload expectations in correlation to a ‘hustle culture’ glorifying and celebrating overworking conditions as being normalised usually within international firms (Ellis-Petersen, 2024). This information can be perceived within The Guardian’s article about the high-pressure corporate jobs occurring in India by Mrx. Hannah Ellis-Petersen, points out that India has “one of the most overworked labour forces of the world” according to recent data on the labour industry (Ellis-Petersen, 2024). However, there are additional factors to consider, such as the pressure faced through global competition, as well as the implementation of unrealistic performance targets.
In light of the ongoing international pressures, there is a matter that the countries of Japan and South Korea have addressed. Thus, the matter pertains to the implementation of regulatory reforms on overtime limits, as well as the implementation of corporate responsibility reforms (Ellis-Petersen, 2024). This case highlights how the implementation and fostering of a healthy work environment is critical for the growth of the individual employee of any company, in addition to the best commercial practice of implementing sustainable growth tactics.
Taking into consideration the aforementioned and following in its neighbour’s normative footsteps in implementing sustainable labour market policies favouring employee mental health, the best course of action is a corrective action by making accountability and corporate social responsibility the number one priority.
Sources and further readings:
Peters, D. (n.d.-a). ‘Shameful twist after 26yo Ey worker’s death.’ https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/betrayalsad-update-after-young-indian-ey-workers-death/news-story/9f34cc90017ab39a34d2c48465ffd86d, accessed 19 February 2025.
Peters, D. (n.d.-b). ‘Young woman dies 4 months after joining ey.’, https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/linkedin-post-before-26yos-tragic-death/news-story/b2eacab465fe060159115405c128fade, accessed 19 February 2025.
Labour market policies in Asian countries: (n.d.-c). https://www.ilo.org/media/307706/download, accessed 14 February 2025.
Ellis-Petersen, H. (2024, October 2). “life is pretty brutal”: Concerns in India over high-pressure corporate jobs. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/02/life-is-pretty-brutal-concerns-in-india-over-high-pressure-corporate-jobs, accessed 13 February 2025.
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