Unfortunate incident, compassion needs to be promoted: Experts react to EY employee’s death

The death of 26-year-old EY employee, Anna Sebastian Perayil, shook the nation last week and people have been talking about the incident on social media. Her mother, in a letter to EY, had blamed “work stress” and said that she hopes no other family has to go through what they faced. Ever since the letter has gone viral, people are reacting to it.

While many are saying how having a sense of work-life balance is important, others are lashing out at big companies for overworking their employees. Some experts have also weighed in on the debate, saying that the incident is unfortunate and people need to have compassion.

Experts talk about work-life balance

In a conversation with ANI, Corporate Outbound Expert, Tanmay Pendse, urged the government to introduce clear regulations aimed at managing workplace stress more effectively. “We are training people for the last 15-16 years and through the management activities, we make sure that such sessions are included which helps in reducing the stress. After employees reach home they should spend good time with their family and stay away from mobile phones. I appeal to the government to come up with a specific policy so that these kind of situations can be tackled,” Pendse said. He also recommended the introduction of wellness activities like yoga in companies to help employees unwind and manage pressure.

Nikhil Badgujar, an Associate Consultant at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), reflected on how stress is an unavoidable part of corporate life and has to be managed. He also said that what happened with the EY employee was very unfortunate.

“Whatever happened is very unfortunate. People need to understand how to react to stress. Stress is relative, as the stress I am feeling is not the same for the other person. People (need) to understand how to react. I can easily understand this as these things are very common nowadays. We need to think about how we can reduce the impact. This is the only thing we can manage. Stress cannot be avoided but it can be managed. In the corporate world stress is a part of our life. We need to understand how to react to that. We are the solution makers itself." Badgujar said.

Anand Kulkarni, a Process Specialist at Infosys, agreed that while stress is prevalent in many workplaces, it can be handled with the right mindset. "Being in the corporate for more than ten years, I have been experiencing and observing a lot of work stress. I handle stress by enjoying the work. Stress does exist in the corporate world but it is all about how you handle it.”

Pushkar Aurangabadkar, an educator and author, took a more philosophical approach to the issue, noting that societal pressures often drive people into high-stress environments.

"The incident is very painful and it has a lot to do with the kind of aspirations that we have these days. The majority of which comes from the compulsive obsession for owning a lot of things. It is not just the trap of corporate but we also need to consider what makes people get into these traps in the first place.”

Aurangabadkar added that fostering compassion and promoting spiritual wisdom could help reduce feelings of isolation and pressure in the corporate world.

"But there are means and ways in which this can be handled in a better way and as a society, we should be taking care of it. It depends on corporate culture and as everyone might be aware every company has a different culture. It depends from company to company what kind of culture they have that defines how much pressure is getting instituted in that organisation. But beyond that what I believe is compassion and the longing for spiritual wisdom need to be promoted in society because it can reduce the possibility of such incident. The reason is that beyond the pressure people are facing in corporate, it drills down the compulsion and loneliness that we are facing and the answers to which may lie in the compassion."

EY employee's death shocks nation

Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant, passed away in July 2024, just four months after joining EY in her first job. Her mother, in a heartfelt letter to the company, attributed Anna's death to extreme work pressure. The letter went viral on LinkedIn last week.

Anna’s mother said in the letter that her daughter worked tirelessly, even on her convocation day despite experiencing chest pains. Though doctors found no immediate cause for concern, Anna continued to feel unwell. Her mother added how Anna’s manager would reschedule meetings during cricket matches and assign tasks at the end of the day, dismissing Anna’s concerns about the late-night workload.

The letter added that despite her struggles, Anna chose to stay, eager to learn and gain experience, but the pressure proved too much. In her letter, Anna’s mother expressed her deep sorrow, not only at losing her daughter but also at EY's failure to provide support. She also said that none of Anna's colleagues or managers attended her funeral.

(With ANI inputs)