Post comparing India and Europe’s work culture sparks debate

As India continues to debate the ideal working hours for corporate employees, a recent social media post comparing the country’s work culture with that of Europe has garnered interesting discussions on the internet.

In a post on Reddit by the username ‘Worried-Video-5807’, a screenshot of Microsoft Teams under the title ‘Work Culture Shock: India vs Europe’, a co-worker asked for flexibility with their work owing to personal reasons. 

The user who posted it on Reddit asked the ‘India Workplace’ community of over 2,93,000 members, “Can we Indians post like this in teams?”

The screenshot read, “Good morning! Heads up on my schedule next week. I am off Monday, then WFH / personal time the rest of the week. I have my 3 kids as my wife is out of town. I’ll keep the team posted if I cannot attend individual meetings.”

Comments pour in

The responses poured immediately, with one of them reading, “If any Indian did , Fastest way to get out of a company.”

“I work for a German company and this is the norm. In your case, they at least gave a reason. In my company they just say ‘I am taking a personal leave today’ and my manager just replies ‘👍’,” said another.

“I do. Quite a lot of time. Although, I report to a US manager, and they care about the people,” a different response read.

‘Not all bosses’

While some also shared good experience from Indian corporates, as one of the users said, “I can. Probably that’s why I’m in the same company for the past 7 years.”

Another chipped in, “I do this, not all indian managers are toxic! That’s why i don’t wanna switch even though pay might be a bit below market standard.”

India’s work culture

However, for the majority of ‘top comments’ the experience was not as good.

“See the reason why the toxic culture is so prevalent in India because a lot of Indians are enablers. It’s the harshest truth. Many people are simply people pleasers and they think going the extra mile, working with fever and idk what not will gain them a positive image,” one user said.

“We really need to start equating every effort for the returns we are getting out of it. Tangible returns not oh xyz is such a bankable employee. We also need to understand what our priorities are and personal time and family time is simply in the bottom tier of the list,” they added.

“For starters, be firm in your decision and stand your ground without being rude or anything. Make your boundaries very clear from the start. I have done this and it works no matter how toxic the boss is,” said the user.

Another comment said, “My manager asked me to do 2 days wfh (work from home) when I asked for 4 days leave (I don’t take leaves at all and do my work diligently).”

Two for tango

Some pointed out that this will eventually hurt the companies, as one user put it, “People will exploit it to the point where everything breaks.”

Another comment read, “I am a team lead. There are toxic bosses and there are toxic employees. I only wish my team would give me a heads up like this and not be shocked going on a 15 day trip to Europe the day before the flight. This is just after taking 20 days of compassionate leave. Since returning to work, she is off 5 days in the last 20 days. In the last 60 days, she was off for 40 days…”

“And managers aren’t supposed to ask questions,” they jibed.