- The tragic death of 26-year-old Anna Sebastian Perayil, an EY Pune employee, has created quite an uproar in the corporate world.
- People are finally waking up to the reality that one should work to live, not live to work.
- To prevent such cases, Deloitte is forming a three-member external committee to review employee practices.
Outrage in the corporate world
The unfortunate death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, who worked EY India, for only four months, has sparked this action.
According to a letter from her mother to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani:
- Anna had been struggling with an overwhelming workload that severely impacted her mental, emotional, and physical health.
It has cast a harsh spotlight on the toxic work culture not just within the Big 4 but across many large organizations.
Deloitte South Asia CEO Romal Shetty expressed his sympathy in an interview with PTI,
“… Very unfortunate, very tragic, young child losing her life. We are in the client service business and in the client service business there will always be deadlines… having all of those pressures,”
Mental health: A pressing issue in the corporate world
One key concern Romal Shetty raised was the mental health of employees, especially younger professionals entering the workforce.
He noted that many of them come from tier-2, and tier-3 cities, leaving their families behind which adds to their overall stress.
Shetty continued,
“The younger generation is incredibly smart—far smarter than I ever was—but a little more resilience wouldn’t hurt,”
Also read: PwC fires 1,800 employees. What’s driving Big 4’s major U.S. layoffs?
What is Deloitte doing to tackle stressful workplace culture?
In response to the unfortunate passing of Anna, Deloitte has formed an external committee to review internal practices, including scrutinizing policies, ethics, and employee well-being.
The three-member panel includes
- Tarun Bajaj – Former Revenue Secretary
- Manoj Kohli – Former Managing Director and CEO of Bharti Airtel. Additionally, he assumed the role of senior advisor at Deloitte on June 29, 2023.
- Subodh Jaiswal – Former CBI Director
Employ a Chief Happiness Officer
Deloitte has even appointed a Chief Happiness Officer, Saraswathi Kasturirangan.
Shetty explained that this role is part of Deloitte’s effort to create a workplace where employees feel safe speaking up about their concerns.
Open forums with the CEO
Deloitte has instituted open forums where employees can ask the CEO any question directly.
This initiative aims to ensure that employees feel empowered to speak up about issues, from workload concerns to interpersonal challenges.
Shetty said,
“If you can ask the CEO anything—even something a little embarrassing—then you should feel comfortable bringing up work issues with senior leaders.”
On the other hand
Although many employees are lauding the CEO of Deloitte South Asia for this initiative, many are voicing concerns.
The other party believes that despite all the initiatives, one must not forget, that all the Big 4 firms in India are notorious for their gruelling work hours.
A widely cited estimate claims that employees at India’s Big 4 firms clock in an average of 60 to 120 hours per week!
Also read: This Big 4 Service Delivery Centre quietly fired 300+ staff
One user on LinkedIn responded to Deloitte’s decision, stating:
“First all these companies need to appoint people to stop internal politics, blame game, and passing the buck, which is a very common practice.
The project director will play Table Tennis in the office relaxing room, but the juniors have to stay back till they leave.
What these three people will do, they will speak with a few people, submit a report, and go. HR will send a mail on work-life balance and that’s all. The things remain as it is. It will go on as it is.”
Another one said,
“These things never work where you don’t even have time to relax your mind.
Just the bold words ‘Chief Happiness Officer,’ sounds good to read. If you are so worried, just reduce your working hours, that’s it. Nothing else will work.”
