A 26-year-old woman, Anna Sebastian Perayil, died from a heart attack just four months after joining a financial company in India.
The Times of India reported that her mother, Anita Augustine, penned a letter to the organisation’s executives claiming that the company’s workload and toxic culture resulted her daughter getting overworked and subsequently dying as a result.
The contents of the letter and the allegations have gone viral as Gen Z and millennials are disillusioned by the world of work.
“Anna would return to her room utterly exhausted, sometimes collapsing on the bed without even changing her clothes, only to be bombarded with messages asking for more reports. She was putting in her best efforts, working very hard to meet the deadlines,” Augustine was quoted as saying in the letter according to Going Concern.
She went on to say that her daughter was a fighter to the core and would not give up quickly.
Her family reportedly told her to resign, but she wanted to learn and get new experiences. Eventually, she could not cope under the crushing pressure.
“The management took full advantage of the fact that she was new and overwhelmed her with both assigned and unassigned work. 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,” she reportedly continued in the letter.
After the letter went viral, the company responded saying that it was ‘deeply saddened’ about what transpired.
“We are taking the family’s correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility. We place the highest importance on the wellbeing of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace,” said the company.
IOL