Work-life balance in India has always been under serious scrutiny, and when compared with countries, it’s a battle corporates here can’t seem to win. Late work hours and midnight calls especially after the pandemic have become the new normal. Amid this major unhealthy relationship with work, a recent message by a European manager to his Indian employee has gone viral.
Europeans are low-key renowned for the perfect work-life balance, something Indians only dream to have someday. In the West, when the clock strikes 5 pm, it’s cue to shut down laptops and head home, some offices even switch off the Wi-Fi to make sure work stays at work. Meanwhile in India, ‘work-life balance’ seems to lean heavily on the word ‘balance’, with people juggling dinner prep on one hand and office calls on the other.
In a funny turn of events, recently an employee took to Reddit and posted his conversation with his European manager. The person, residing in India, seemingly replied to a work text and ensured it will be done soon.
Only that the text was sent at around midnight in India. The manager to that, replied casually and asked him to clock off from work. The remark, “So it’s time to stop working”, from the manager went viral with people adoring the work life balance Europeans stick to.
Comments flooded the post and one user wrote, “An European manager once said that we’re not saving lives, we are saving excel files, it can wait.” Another added, “I love what they have built as a culture- they don't care if their profit tank. But they definitely care about their work life balance.”
While another user putting forward a much harsher reality wrote, “As long as there are always other people willing to work for same or less wages, labour (even skilled) in India will have no bargaining power. This is also one of the reasons why EU is concerned about immigration.”
Somewhere in the relentless race to better our careers, we often forget the importance of life itself, and every once in a while like this, we all need a jolt of that realisation.
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