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New Delhi: Shares of <keyword id="19903587" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Life-Insurance-Corporation-of-India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Life Insurance Corporation of India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Life Insurance Corporation of India">Life Insurance Corporation of India</keyword> (<keyword id="6367143" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="LIC" source="Orion">LIC</keyword>) climbed 3 per cent on Friday after the company reported a 10 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 10,461 crore in the June 2024 quarter. The stock jumped 3 per cent to Rs 1,159.60 on the <keyword id="19895774" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BSE" source="keywords">BSE</keyword>. At the NSE, it climbed 3 per cent to Rs 1,160 apiece. The state-owned life insurance behemoth had a net profit of Rs 9,544 crore in the year-ago period. The total income increased to Rs 2,10,910 crore during the latest June quarter as against Rs 1,88,749 crore in the year-ago period, LIC said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. <keyword id="22725292" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lic-md" source="keywords">LIC MD</keyword> and CEO Siddhartha Mohanty said the Assets Under Management (AUM) increased to Rs 53,58,781 crore as on June 30, as compared to Rs 46,11,067 crore at the end of same quarter previous year, registering an increase of 16.22 per cent. The total premium income for the quarter increased by 16 per cent to Rs 1,13,770 crore, as compared to Rs 98,363 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Asked about entry into the health insurance business, he said, LIC is exploring the option of picking up majority stakes in a standalone health insurance company.

LIC shares climb 3 percent after earnings announcement

Shares of state-owned behemoth Life Insurance Corporation (<keyword id="19903588" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="LIC" source="keywords">LIC</keyword>) have outperformed rivals like <keyword id="20079495" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="HDFC-Life" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="HDFC Life" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="HDFC Life">HDFC Life</keyword> and <keyword id="21278696" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-Prudential-Life" source="keywords">ICICI Prudential Life</keyword>, as it placed bets on India's growth sectors, including infrastructure, while the private sector concentrated its bets on tech, consumer and consumer-related <keyword id="19910880" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BFSI" source="keywords">BFSI</keyword> companies. LIC's stock has gained nearly 79% from Rs 620 on June 18, 2023, to Rs 1,109.15 at the closing on Tuesday, according to stock exchange data. In contrast, HDFC Life gave a negative return with Tuesday's closing price of Rs 646.55 on the BSE as compared to Rs 666.55 a year back. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co delivered a return of 12%, considering its stock price rise from Rs 582 on June 18, 2023, to Rs 654.10 on June 16, 2024. Over the past one year, <keyword id="19898108" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SBI" source="keywords">SBI</keyword> Life Insurance shares have risen from Rs 1,314 to Rs 1,621.20, delivering a return of 23%. Capital market analysts said <keyword id="19935977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="insurance-companies" source="keywords">insurance companies</keyword> make money in two ways - charging premiums for policies and then investing the premiums into assets. It is the latter that generates the bigger delta in profits, thus impacting value creation and managing risks. Global majors, including Warren Buffet-owned Berkshire Hathaway, have been successful due to their ability to make superior investments. Most Indian insurance companies are yet to capitalise on the emergence of the country's <keyword id="19997284" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="infrastructure-sector" source="keywords">infrastructure sector</keyword>, analysts said. Indian insurance companies have concentrated investments in the BFSI, IT, and consumer sectors - all of which have been underperformers in the recent past. Only 8-10% of their investments are in the infrastructure sector. This is far less when compared to global standards. Large global insurance companies -- such as Allianz, Nippon Life Insurance, and Metlife, and other insurers like Berkshire Hathaway -- have much larger exposure ranging from 15 to 30% to the infrastructure sector, analysts noted. Over the past few years, global insurers have been increasingly considering infrastructure investments as 'core' investments as the stable and long-term cash flows of infrastructure assets naturally align with the liabilities of insurers. Additionally, infrastructure assets have defensive characteristics of high barriers to entry, strong pricing power, structural growth, and predictive cash flows, and listed infrastructure can provide investors with inflation-protected income and solid capital growth. <h2>Infra sector outperforming all</h2>For India, a strong government focus on the sector with large spending, supporting initiatives and encouraging policies, and improving governance has helped the infrastructure industry has come of age. This has helped the infra sector to outperform all other sectors, according to analysts. They said the high focus on retail loans, and the strategic reluctance to look at infrastructure for growth opportunities is proving detrimental for the shareholders of such companies. SBI, with its higher exposure to the infrastructure sector, has seen its stock gain 48% in the year (from Rs 592 to Rs 880.95 on Tuesday), while those of its private counterparts HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank have gained only in the range of (-)3%to 24%. Kotak and HDFC Banks with negligible exposure to the infrastructure sector are the worst performing, with their shares giving a negative return, stock exchange data showed. Kotak Mahindra Bank shares were at Rs 1,895 on June 18, 2023, and closed at Rs 1,805.20 on Tuesday. HDFC Bank closed at Rs 1,619.20 on BSE on Tuesday, down from Rs 1,679 a year back.

Exposure to India's infra sector helps LIC, SBI outshine peers

Discussions around <keyword id="19956983" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mental-health" source="keywords">mental health</keyword> at the workplace reignited in the last few days when the death of two corporate employees made headlines. And it is no secret that without having a healthy mind, you cannot be productive. Ample studies in the last few months have pointed out the importance of mental health and it is important to talk about these issues. Today (October 10) marks <keyword id="23481940" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Mental-Health-Day" source="keywords">World Mental Health day</keyword>. It is an occasion for raising awareness about mental health issues and combating social stigma. Celebrated globally since 1992, this day encourages education and advocacy for mental well-being, reminding us that mental health is a crucial aspect of overall health, especially in the workplace. <h2>Ex-Google employee experienced stress, anxiety </h2> <keyword id="23300967" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nicholas-Whitaker" source="keywords">Nicholas Whitaker</keyword>, who worked with <keyword id="19902762" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Google" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Google">Google</keyword> for 13 years, told Business Insider India in an interview that he also experienced the pressures of a high-stress work environment. “During my time at Google, I faced significant stress and anxiety. It became clear that no matter how successful you are on paper, if your mental health is compromised, it diminishes your quality of life and ability to fully engage at work,” he said. He added that <keyword id="19925554" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mindfulness" source="keywords">mindfulness</keyword> played a crucial role in his recovery, saying that mental health is not just a personal issue but a workplace concern that should be treated with equal importance as productivity and performance. <h2>How to protect your mental health? </h2> To help others protect their mental health, Whitaker shared several key practices that can be game-changers. 1. Set Boundaries: Understand your limits and communicate them clearly. This includes managing your workload, taking time away from work, and setting boundaries around communication. Protecting your time and energy is essential. 2. Practice Mindfulness or Meditation: Mindfulness was a lifesaver for him in managing corporate stress. Even dedicating a few minutes each day to meditation can help you stay grounded and aware of your feelings, allowing you to make necessary adjustments before burnout sets in. 3. Take Breaks: In high-pressure environments, it’s easy to feel that there’s no time for a break. However, regular breaks—even just a short walk or stepping outside—can significantly enhance your mental state and boost productivity. 4. Find a Support System: Having people to talk to, whether colleagues, friends, or coaches, can make a considerable difference. Building a supportive community can combat feelings of isolation, which often exacerbate mental health issues. 5. Align Work with Values: Stress and dissatisfaction often arise from a misalignment between personal values and work. Reflecting on what truly matters to you and making small shifts toward work that aligns with those values can lead to greater fulfillment. To conclude, Whitaker said, “Mental health is not a luxury—it’s essential for personal well-being and professional success. When organisations invest in their employees’ mental health, they cultivate a culture where people feel supported, valued, and empowered to excel in their work.” As we observe <keyword id="23486492" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="world-mental-health" source="keywords">World Mental Health</keyword> Day, it’s crucial to remember that prioritising mental well-being can lead to a more productive, innovative, and fulfilled workforce.

World Mental Health Day: Ex-Google employee shares tips on protecting mental health at workplace, says he experienced stress and anxiety

<keyword id="19902762" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Google" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Google">Google</keyword> laid off thousands of employees in 2023 and many found their lives turned upside down with just an email notification. After all, when you have given your heart and soul to an organisation, it is never easy accepting the fact that you are being asked to leave at a moment’s notice. The situation becomes even more complicated when you have been with the company for more than a decade. Something similar happened with <keyword id="23300967" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nicholas-Whitaker" source="keywords">Nicholas Whitaker</keyword>, who had been working with the company since 2010 and found out about his <keyword id="20118388" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="layoff" source="keywords">layoff</keyword> abruptly. <h2>The 3 am email bringing bad news</h2>“My layoff experience was traumatic. I got an email at 3 am to my personal email, that I only found because a colleague pinged me on Linkedin in the DMs to ask if I was ‘Ok’ and if I was ‘safe’,” Whitaker told <keyword id="21390875" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider-India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Business Insider India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Business Insider India">Business Insider India</keyword> in a conversation. He added that when his colleague enquired about his safety, he thought it was a “shooting or some natural disaster.” In other words, he didn’t even imagine that he was being laid off from Google. He then revealed that when he checked his work email, he discovered that he was locked out of his laptop and phone. He then checked his personal email and there it was, the “short and impersonal email” that told him that his role at Google was being eliminated. <h2>The layoff process was uncomfortable</h2>When Google announced large-scale layoffs last year, the company made a lot of headlines for handling them in an unprofessional manner. In March 2023, several Google employees had even written an open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, asking him to deal with layoffs in a better manner. Whitaker, narrating his own experience, shared with Business Insider India that after receiving the dreadful layoff email at 3 am, he spent the next few months completing formalities to get his payments that were due. He said, “It took all of the next several months for me to mail back my laptop, badge and any gear that I had that was Google property. (I also had to) navigate unemployment, health insurance and get all of the documentation I had to submit to "self Offboard" and to receive payments that I was supposed to get.” “Along the way there were multiple errors and miscommunications from the team that made it all even more uncomfortable,” he said. Whitaker also noted a complete lack of communication and empathy from his old team at Google. “I got a single text message from my prior manager asking how I was doing a few days after I was laid off, but otherwise no one reached out to check on me or offer assistance from my old team. Overall I found the process to be brutally impersonal and inhumane,” he said. <h2>Experience at Google</h2>But was Google always “inhumane” in his experience? Not really. There were some amazing days too and Google, according to Whitaker, was a different company when he had joined. “My initial experience working at Google was like it was a completely different company. I started as a temp, contractor and then a vendor for Google back in 2010, and at the time I think it was something like 40,000 employees. It had a real startup feel to it. Teams were agile and collaborative, and there was a lot of room for growth. It may have been specific to my team and org, but it felt like you had a lot more room for experimentation and autonomy to make decisions, and failure wasn't seen as a bad thing, but a necessary part of innovation,” he said. Whitaker also said that a “class system” was there at Google, especially since he was a TVC (Temporary, Vendor and Contractor). “As a TVC you wouldn't be included in many of the activities and learning opportunities that full time employees had, and didn't get invited to extracurricular activities. There was a real bias towards culture at the time, and words like Don't be Evil, and be Googly were often used.” However, in general, he added that the atmosphere was positive and full of possibilities. “Colleagues generally were very supportive, collaborative and encouraging to work with. I was excited as this was my first time working in big tech, or Corporate America and I saw that period of time as a real coming of age for me. I learned how to be a professional at Google and appreciated all of the early guidance and support that I got from colleagues and leaders.” <h2>Helping others</h2>It has now been over a year since Whitaker was laid off. He now has his own venture and helps other people navigate their careers. Talking about what motivated him to kick-start his own venture, he said, “After 13 years in big tech, the last few years in particular being particularly difficult due to toxic teams and leaders, I didn't want to jump right back into that kind of experience again. A year before getting laid off, I had experienced a bad <keyword id="19956983" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mental-health" source="keywords">mental health</keyword> crisis that was the result of workplace bullying, gaslighting and toxic leadership. "I wanted to help others avoid and recover from similar situations and create a community where people can find mutual support and coaching on how to best navigate their careers in a conscious way. My severance after working so long at Google allowed me to fund the launch of my coaching business, and eventually ‘changingwork.org’." <keyword id="23300968" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Changing-Work" source="keywords">Changing Work</keyword>, Whitaker explained, is his way of addressing a deep need in corporate life — helping people rediscover their sense of purpose and alignment in their careers and finding ways to build more conscious leaders and businesses. He added, “What makes this so transformative for me personally is that it allowed me to step into a role where I could integrate all the lessons from my own career—especially the parts that were hardest for me. During my time at Google, I saw firsthand how high-pressure environments can lead to burnout, anxiety, and a disconnect from our true selves.” The recent tragic death of a young CA at Ernst &amp; Young (EY) employee in India has turned the spotlight on toxic work cultures prevalent in many high-pressure industries. Broader debates on burnout, mental health struggles, and unrealistic expectations in corporate environments in the workplace have occupied social media platforms. This incident serves as a painful reminder that companies must prioritize <keyword id="21050364" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="employee-well-being" source="keywords">employee well-being</keyword> and mental health to foster sustainable, humane workplaces. And makes the work that people like Whitaker are doing all the more important. “I’ve spoken publicly about how mindfulness practice, coaching and therapy literally saved my life during some of my darkest times at Google. Changing Work is the culmination of that journey. It’s not just about helping others find balance and fulfillment—it’s about creating a space where I can live those values every day,” he concludes.

Fired from Google after 13 years of service, he used his severance to build a business around helping others with their careers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Computer giant Dell carries out an annual employee engagement survey known as "Tell Dell."</li><li>After its strict RTO mandate, workers used the survey as an opportunity to show Dell how they really felt. </li></ul>When executives decide on a new direction for a company, there's often little that workers can do about it besides leave. But that doesn't mean they are happy about it.At computing giant Dell, after a year shaped by layoffs, a strict return-to-office (RTO) mandate, and a new employee monitoring system, workers have taken an opportunity to share their true feelings with the company.The company runs an annual employee engagement survey called "Tell Dell."According to internal results seen by Business Insider, this year's employee net promoter score (eNPS), a key measure of the likelihood that employees would recommend Dell as a great place to work, dropped by double digits compared to the previous year.The score, which is calculated as the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors, dropped from 62 to 48. It is based on responses from around 98,000 employees."No matter what, I've never seen a score move that fast in the wrong direction," said one staffer who spoke to BI on condition of anonymity."Frankly, most people I work with were expecting a steeper decline," said another Dell employee.In some departments, the decline was even sharper. In the global marketing team, the rating dropped by 68%, while in some smaller teams, the eNPS was close to or at zero, sources at the company told BI."I think the marketing teams feel particularly threatened due to the accelerated adoption of GenAI to streamline marketing processes and reduce cost," one worker told BI.Others cited the RTO initiative, layoffs, and the way changes at the company have been handled as reasons for the decline.<h2 id="2e276e5b-e0e6-4e0a-bbab-289d3fd67ac0">Listening to employees</h2>According to BI's sources, "Tell Dell" has been conducted annually for at least eight years. Employees completed the survey in May, and results were shared with leaders in late June.Two Dell HR leaders have previously <a target="_blank" href="https://www.i4cp.com/interviews/using-survey-data-to-drive-inclusion-and-leader-accountability">described the survey</a> as "a key listening tool we use to drive action across the organization.""In the past, leadership has treated Tell Dell very seriously. The results are covered in detail with every team member along with action plans to address employee concerns," one Dell employee explained.However, this year, leadership seemed to gloss over the eNPS, multiple workers told BI."It's as if every leader was given the OK to ignore it," said one Dell employee.In an internal email addressing the results, Jenn Saavedra, Dell's Chief HR Officer, noted that the eNPS was dropping across the industry and that Dell was "pleased to exceed the industry benchmark.""You have 'told Dell,' and we are listening," Saavedra wrote, moving on to highlight positive metrics in leadership, confidence in the company, and connection and culture.The eNPS is "just one question in a robust survey that gives us a current snapshot of employee sentiment," Dell told BI when asked about the results."In the Tell Dell Survey, our team members shared that they believe their leaders treat them with respect, uphold the company's Culture Code values and offer flexibility to balance work/life.""Our team members also expressed their confidence in the future vision, strategy and leadership of Dell."However, five workers that BI spoke to about the results said the eNPS was the true measure of worker satisfaction or dissatisfaction."C-suite brushes over the real issues to push a positive image of the company,' said one employee."I don't think leadership cares about our feedback. They just keep rowing in whatever direction they want," said another.The focus on employee wellbeing "seems to have been replaced by reducing costs and increasing profitability," a third employee said, adding that they believe Dell's culture has been "significantly compromised" by recent policies. In February, Dell became one of the many large corporations mandating workers return to the office. The Texas-headquartered company introduced a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dell-remote-workers-promotion-return-office-push-flexible-work-2024-3">new hybrid work policy</a> requiring workers to classify themselves as either hybrid or remote.Those who chose remote are now ineligible for promotion and can't change roles — almost <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-dell-workers-reject-return-to-office-hybrid-work-2024-6">50% of workers</a> in the US chose that option.Many say they didn't have a choice, as Dell has built geographically divided teams. They would have had to move state or commute for hours to get to one of the 17 approved offices.<div type="image" title="Dell Round Rock Texas" height="683" width="1024" msid="111784906" hostid="261" sizebytes="137588"></div>For hybrid workers, in-office culture has also changed.Dell introduced a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dell-hybrid-return-to-office-mandate-monitor-employees-onsite-attendance-2024-5">new monitoring system</a> for hybrid employees, tracking and rating their attendance with color-coded flags.Workers have told BI that the shift in culture has felt particularly harsh given Dell's longstanding reputation as an inclusive and encouraging employer. <h2 id="edbb2c89-924f-4acc-a8a1-527d877c4d69">Workers reject RTO</h2>Dell is just one of many <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-making-workers-employees-return-to-office-rto-wfh-hybrid-2023-1">tech giants, Wall Street banks, and large retailers</a> that have been leading efforts to reverse the work-from-home culture that emerged following the pandemic. But employees have been pushing back.After Deutsche Bank mandated staff come in for three days a week, the company faced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/deutsche-bank-staff-criticize-rto-mandate-not-enough-office-space-2024-2">a wave of backlash</a> from staff complaining about the lack of office space and bottlenecks at the company.And at the German software giant <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/thousands-of-sap-employees-feel-betrayed-by-firms-rto-policies-2024-2">SAP</a> thousands of staff signed an internal letter saying that they felt "betrayed" by the company's "radical" RTO policy.Though some see in-office work as better for productivity, a recent <a target="_blank" href=" https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-shared/docs/campaigns/2024/deloitte-2024-genz-millennial-survey.pdf?dlva=1">Deloitte survey</a> found that good work-life balance was the top consideration for both Gen Z and millennials when choosing an employer.At Dell, some now feel their only solution is to leave the company."None of us expect any changes to address the eNPS drop or that they will listen to what comments we provided," said one worker.Five of BI's sources have found new jobs since the policy was first announced, and others said they and many of their colleagues are actively looking.Are you a worker at Dell or another company pushing staff back to the office? Contact this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:pthompson@businessinsider.com">pthompson@businessinsider.com</a>

Dell employees used the company's signature corporate survey to tell bosses how they feel after its RTO push

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rains from Hurricane Helene caused severe flooding in western North Carolina, devastating communities.</li><li>But less than 3% of properties in the state have flood insurance, leaving many unprotected.</li></ul>Torrential rains from Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on western North Carolina last week, with flooding that has devastated local communities, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2024/10/01/rescue-relief-and-recovery-operations-continue-western-north-carolina">killed dozens in the state</a>, left many residents <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2024/10/01/rescue-relief-and-recovery-operations-continue-western-north-carolina">without running water or power</a>, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-hits-asheville-beer-microbreweries-north-carolina-floods-2024-9">uprooted businesses</a>, and destroyed homes.Rainfall collected by at least a dozen weather stations in the region, including near Asheville, reached their highest-ever 3-day totals during the event, ranging from nearly 13 inches to over 31 inches, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://climate.ncsu.edu/blog/2024/09/rapid-reaction-historic-flooding-follows-helene-in-western-nc/">according to a report from the North Carolina State Climate Office</a>.<div type="image" title="image of flooded street in Asheville, NC" height="4708" width="7054" msid="113922495" hostid="261" sizebytes="2725582"></div>But only about 2.6% of the 4.3 million properties across the state — or around 115,000 properties — had flood insurance as of June 2024, according to private provider Neptune Flood Insurance, which analyzed data from the government-backed National Flood Insurance Program. And that's a 2.5% year-over-year coverage decrease from June 2023, Neptune said.North Carolina Department of Insurance communications director Jason Tyson estimated that about 139,000 properties in the state have flood insurance through the NFIP.Neither estimate includes private flood insurance. But the number of private flood insurance policies in the US is small compared to the amount of NFIP policies, according to a 2023 report from independent insurance <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.policygenius.com/homeowners-insurance/private-flood-insurance-vs-nfip/#:~:text=Most%20policies%20are%20provided%20and,and%20availability%20of%20additional%20coverages.">provider PolicyGenius</a>.The North Carolina Joint Information Center told Business Insider that it's still too early to provide estimates on the number of buildings damaged or the total cost of the damages.<div type="image" title="image of destroyed home" height="5504" width="8256" msid="113922496" hostid="261" sizebytes="5511238"></div>Federal disaster assistance does help people who lost their homes with mortgage payments, home loans, or bill payments. But without flood insurance, many homeowners may be left with a significant financial burden. Part of the problem with flood insurance is a common misconception that regular home insurance covers flooding, which is rarely the case, four experts knowledgable about flood insurance and disaster management told Business Insider."They just think that, 'Oh, yeah, I have insurance. I have homeowner's insurance. I have State Farm or whatever. That must cover it,'" Trevor Burgess, the President &amp; CEO of Neptune Flood Insurance, told BI. "And it doesn't. They have to buy a separate policy."Another factor influencing why so few people have flood insurance is that it's not required for everyone — only homes and businesses with government-backed mortgages in areas that are designated high-risk flood zones are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.floodsmart.gov/am-i-required-have-flood-insurance">legally required to have flood insurance</a>."One of the biggest drivers of whether or not people get flood insurance is whether or not they're required to have it," Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, a research scholar and director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia Climate School, told BI."So if you don't live in one of these areas, one of these floodplains that trigger that, then a lot of people just simply don't get flood insurance," Schlegelmilch added.Margaret Walls, a senior fellow and director of the Climate Risks and Resilience Program at nonprofit research institute Resources for the Future, said that people also wrongly believe that if they're not in a high-risk flood area, then they're not at risk."It's not a lot of homes that are in those designated floodplains relative to the total number of homes, but there's still a lot of flood risks," Walls said. "And this is one of the biggest issues in the flood world is that the mapped areas where FEMA says you're supposed to have flood insurance policy are not the areas that are all risky. There are plenty of areas where you're at risk outside of those mapped areas."Walls explained that people don't understand their actual risks."They think that the map is telling them their risks," Walls said. "It's actually not. It's just telling them where they have to have a mandatory purchase of a flood insurance policy. But it's not saying that you're zero risk when you're outside of that area. And as climate changes happening, those risks are going up."And the areas devastated by flooding in western North Carolina were largely not considered to be high-risk flood areas. The State of North Carolina's Flood Risk Information System designates many of the counties in the region that were most affected by flooding after Helene as "minimal flood risk," <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://flood.nc.gov/ncflood/">according to a map on their website</a>."We almost always associate flood risk with hurricanes and coastal storm surge in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas," Jeremy Porter, who leads climate implication research at First Street, a public-benefit corporation that evaluates climate risk, told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-hurricane-helene-flooding-north-carolina-f49b2a6bf2b549473e0211f883332592">The Associated Press</a>. "We don't think of western North Carolina and the Appalachian mountains as an area that has significant flood risk."And the perception that a certain place is safe from flooding contributes to the problem, Schlegelmilch suggested."This is one of those things we look at areas like Asheville, North Carolina, that were thought of as climate havens, where people thought, 'Well, I'm going to escape the worst of climate change and I'm going to move there,'" Schlegelmilch said. "And unfortunately, this is just an important reminder that we cannot outrun this."Having insurance to protect your home and mitigate your financial risks is an important step, and more people need to take that precaution, Schlegelmilch said, a sentiment that Walls and Burgess also echoed.Yanjun Liao, an economist and fellow at Resources for the Future, added that people should be prepared for even unexpected flood events, like what happened in western North Carolina."I definitely think that a lot more people need flood insurance," Liao said. "Oftentimes even people who are living outside of the flood zones, the 100-year flood zones and sometimes outside 500-year flood zones, can face these kind of unexpected flood damage."Liao said that the cost of flood insurance can be burdensome, particularly for those who live in more disaster-prone areas. But the alternative may be even more costly: rebuilding after a devastating storm.

A majority of North Carolina homeowners didn't have flood insurance. Then Helene hit.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>After years of struggles, chip giant Intel is in the midst of mass <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-qualcomm-takeover-bid-layoffs-foundry-spin-off-2024-9">layoffs and buyouts</a>.</li><li>Some longtime Intel employees are eligible for up to 19 months of severance.</li></ul>When searching for a wedding planner, most couples don't check for a doctorate. But the brides of greater Portland are about to have that option.Shi Choong got her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry in 2018, and for the last six and a half years she's worked at Intel improving processes and training for the company's Oregon fab — a factory where Intel's chips are produced. She's one of the thousands of Intel employees who recently took the voluntary severance packages the company made available ahead of a long-forecasted round of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-qualcomm-takeover-bid-layoffs-foundry-spin-off-2024-9">15,000 layoffs and buyouts</a>, which began this month.After years of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-ceo-pat-gelsinger-turnaround-plan-aws-2024-9#:~:text=Revenue%20last%20quarter%20was%20down,shares%20falling%20by%20over%2025%25.">layoffs, buyouts</a>, and even <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-ceo-takes-pay-cut-reduce-costs-prevent-layoffs-2023-2#:~:text=Intel's%20CEO%20and%20members%20of,Intel%20said%20in%20a%20statement.">one temporary pay cut</a>, many employees have thought about what they might do after Intel. Its severance package, which reportedly offers five weeks of pay for every year of service up to 19 months total, pushed some to jump.Though plenty of Intel alums are expressing trepidation about an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-cant-find-job-tech-blames-racial-discrimination-ai-2024-9">uncertain job market</a>, some departing Intel insiders are fashioning entirely new lives for themselves — 180 degrees from corporate life.Choong has been coordinating weddings and modeling outside of her Intel work hours for the last three years. She specializes in nontraditional, heavily themed weddings. This <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/furry-fandom-big-tech-software-developers-2022-3">kind of nerdery</a> often goes hand in hand with the concentrated tech talent in places like the San Francisco Bay area or Portland. She saw the buyout opportunity and the severance that came with it, as a sign to take her side hustle full-time."To me, it's Christmas come early. It's a wish come true," Choong told Business Insider.BI spoke to three former Intel employees who are using the company's hard times as an opportunity to upend their lives.<h2 id="bc1c7975-8847-4cfc-b408-e6b24752f181">Intel lifers head out on their own</h2>"I'm feeling awesome," Javier Apostol told BI from the balcony of a beachside resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, two weeks after his last day as a software applications engineering manager at Intel.He joined Intel in Arizona right after finishing his undergraduate degree and stayed for nearly 29 years. Intel was the only company he ever worked for as an adult.Apostol's first job was picking fruit in the fields of Yuma County, California, alongside his parents. Eventually, his dad started doing workforce development for migrants and then tax preparation for Spanish-speaking workers and agricultural contractors.When one of his dad's clients was audited, Apostol, who had started to learn how to program computers, turned handwritten mileage records into a neat chart. The IRS agents told him it was the best they'd ever seen, and Apostol got hooked on computers.Apostol joined Intel in 1996. From inside Intel, he's seen every phase of the internet since nearly the beginning. He said a longer lens gives him perspective.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-struggles-qualcomm-deal-chip-industry-turmoil-2024-9">Intel's situation</a> is no great tragedy, according to Apostol."The world is just changing and that is good. Intel will ultimately find its place where it needs to be," he said. After a vacation, Apostol is sticking with semiconductors, but he and some colleagues are headed in a more entrepreneurial direction.Though Intel has struggled to maintain its once leading-edge status, Apostol said there is a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-ai-chip-semiconductors-tsmc-intel-jobs-arizona-2024-2">window of creativity</a> in the semiconductor space that he hasn't seen in a long time as investors and consumers alike become aware of the vital role of chips in their everyday lives."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-competition-sambanova-groq-cerebras-show-faster-inference-speed-2024-9">Chip design</a> is going to explode," Apostol said. He and five colleagues who also took the buyouts want to apply their expertise in chip-making consulting for businesses and even <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sovereign-clouds-explained-data-center-ai-national-security-vultr-2024-10">countries</a> looking to enter the industry.At 54 years old, and with both of his kids in college and away from home, he has the time and the energy to take the leap, he said. He hopes Intel finds its way to similar boldness again."If I worry about anything it's Intel becoming complacent and deciding to think small — to stop looking for the next great thing," Apostol said.<h2 id="22be38cf-517d-4e34-a89c-5f46756eb17e">Turning a good living into a good retirement</h2>Sumit Guha, a former transfer technology manager at Intel, is founding a new venture too, but with more altruistic aims.Over his 24 years at Intel, Guha used his spare time to develop a wealth management strategy based on the philosophies of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-warren-buffe">Warren Buffet</a>.He's shared his strategy with friends and colleagues over the years, but it wasn't until his 86-year-old mother was sold a fraudulent insurance policy that he considered scaling his efforts up. He fought for two years to get her money back, and that wasn't the first time his parents had been the victims of dubious financial providers."My goal is to teach seniors how to detect financial fraud. I have witnessed this myself. Old people are targets," Guha said. He plans to start studying to become a Certified Financial Planner soon, with the aim of providing free tax services to older adults and eventually starting a nonprofit organization that helps them manage and grow their finances.As Guha, 60, approaches retirement age, he's become increasingly worried about the state of his peers' <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-x-baby-boomers-savings-cant-afford-retirement-2024-4">retirement accounts</a>. AARP estimates that 20% of Americans over the age of 50 have no retirement savings at all.Intel still offers some of the benefits much of the tech world has long eschewed. For example, spreading out the timeline for paid sabbaticals has been one of the perks downgraded in the current era of cutbacks. But for Guha, some of his longevity benefits with Intel have kicked in recently, and the company accelerated stock grants set to be issued in December as a 'thank you' for enduring <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-ceo-takes-pay-cut-reduce-costs-prevent-layoffs-2023-2#:~:text=Intel's%20CEO%20and%20members%20of,Intel%20said%20in%20a%20statement.">2023's pay cuts</a> for those who took the buyout option."It's a gift for me to pull the trigger now," Guha said. He plans to offer tax services, financial fraud awareness, and investment advice with the aim of helping Americans achieve a safe and comfortable retirement, even if they started saving late in the game.<h2 id="7bec7e59-5a0c-4aa0-bd49-7e9d5e9b7d2f">Lessons learned at Intel</h2>Though several departing Intel employees expressed some frustration with the current state of the company, they still believe it can be successful. And they're taking some of the values and skills they picked up there with them. The company always valued continuous training, said Apostol.Choong said many of the skills she learned at Intel will transfer to her new life. Engineers are organized and good at dealing with complexity — the kind that comes with a wedding that starts in formalwear and ends with the entire party wearing animal onesies, for example.Choong also learned how to speak up for herself at Intel, especially when training in the fabs. This comes in handy when dealing with sketchy wedding vendors, she said."I have grown tremendously. I used to cry in my office because someone spoke loudly at me. I'm fearless now," Choong said.Are you leaving Intel too? Or sticking around? Got a tip or an insight to share? Contact BI's senior reporter Emma Cosgrove at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:ecosgrove@businessinsider.com">ecosgrove@businessinsider.com</a> or use the secure messaging app Signal: 443-333-9088.

Life after Intel: After rounds of layoffs and buyouts, some Intel insiders are abandoning the corporate grind altogether

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Anaïs Felt took a "micro-retirement" back in March from her Silicon Valley tech job.</li><li>The time off on her extended leave healed her burnout and changed her relationship to work, she said.</li></ul>Anaïs Felt was exhausted at the start of the year.As a senior product manager at a Silicon Valley tech firm, Felt, 31, commuted an hour to and from her home in San Francisco each day. Her hours in the office on top of a two-hour commute were a stark contrast to the work-life balance she had when she worked remotely during the pandemic."I would come home and be so exhausted that I would just lay on the couch to recuperate, eat dinner, and then go to bed," she said of her routine. "I didn't have the energy to go for a run or spend time with my partner or laugh."It wasn't just the commute wearing on Felt. She told Business Insider that she was also finding work itself more stressful, which came as a surprise to her being 10 years into her career in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktoker-sparked-conversation-not-able-to-leave-work-early-2024-3">corporate America.</a>"I was crying a lot," she said. "I had a harder time moving through difficult situations at work."Felt decided to meet with a career coach, who quickly "diagnosed" her with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/burnout-is-now-a-clinical-syndrome-2019-5">burnout</a>, a syndrome due to "chronic workplace stress."The diagnosis was a welcome confirmation since Felt recognized the symptoms after reading "Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle" by Emily and Amelia Nagoski and Mckinsey's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace-2023">2023 Women in the Workplace</a> report. She knew experience wasn't uncommon in<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mental-health-crisis-great-resignation-tech-industry-silicon-valley-2022-4"> Silicon Valley, particularly for women.</a>Rather than trying to power through her stress or leave tech altogether, Felt decided to take what she called a micro-retirement — or extended break — to address her burnout.<h2 id="eda9f511-a527-4394-ad17-9bf9f3039ece">Taking a break</h2>Felt spent her 20s prioritizing her career, she told BI. She was the first person in her family to attend college, starting her first business when she was an undergrad at Hope College in Michigan. After she graduated from the liberal arts college, her early adult years solely revolved around her job."I was brought up in the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-and-fall-girl-boss-analysis-2020-7">girlboss</a> era," she said. "I worked extremely hard and was high-achieving."But a decade later as Felt came to terms with her burnout and thought about what she wanted out of the next phase of her <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quit-big-tech-dream-job-pay-perks-not-worth-it-2024-5">career</a>, she decided she needed to take a break from work before moving forward."It felt like it would be good for me — but also good for my future employer — if I went into my next role feeling fully energized and feeling conviction in that next step," she said.Felt <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quit-job-travel-after-stress-burnout-at-big-tech-company-2024-8">quit her job</a> in March with the intention of taking up to a year off, thinking of her break as a micro-retirement or a sabbatical. "It's intentional breaks throughout my career where I can just take time to enjoy and live life and recharge for my next role," she said of her definition of micro-retirement. "I'm gonna plan to keep doing this throughout my career every five to 10 years instead of deferring all of it to the end of my career."A September <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@anaisfelt/video/7419143704482499882">video</a> Felt made about her micro-retirement started a conversation on TikTok, garnering over 189,000 views and racking up more than 500 comments as of Tuesday.<h2 id="8bd54dbe-99f3-4208-b09e-d9ef2d144737">Prepping for her micro-retirement</h2>Felt said she properly planned to be able to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ex-goldman-sachs-wealth-advisor-money-advice-ultrawealthy-2024-10">afford a year off</a> before putting in her notice. She made a habit of saving as she settled into her career. The former senior product manager did not share her salary at her most recent job with BI, but <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.levels.fyi/t/product-manager?countryId=254&amp;country=254&amp;search=senior+product+manager">according to Levels.FYI</a>, which collects salary information for tech professionals, the median salary for a product manager was $211,000 as of October.Felt also said she did an audit of her spending before leaving her full time position. "That was really helpful because it helped me pare back in some areas where the spending was more unnecessary," she said. "It improved my relationship with money, and it's made me a bit more diligent with my finances."Felt took care of some regular medical expenses before leaving her job as well, like ordering contacts for the year and going to the dentist. Once she left her company, she joined her partner's health insurance.By March, she was ready for her micro-retirement.<h2 id="d8bbaaaf-2619-4847-a1be-eda023b4faa4">Felt needed more rest than she realized</h2>Felt told BI that she initially planned to take a big trip once she left her job. But <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/when-to-quit-six-figure-job-for-mental-health">burnout</a> hit her "like a brick wall" once she actually started micro-retirement."I think the first couple of weeks I actually had to accept the fact that I was burned out," she said. "I needed to just sit and relax and rest."Felt said she took it easy for a month before the "burnout cloud" started to lift."I'm so glad that I just sat down for a month because that equipped me to move into the next phase of my micro-retirement, which was doing things I loved and cared about without the excessive burnout," she said.Every day of Felt's micro-retirement looks slightly different, though she tries to stick to a schedule Monday through Friday to give herself some structure. Some days, Felt creates content on TikTok that shows peeks into her life through outfit-of-the-day videos or snippets of her home decor. On other days, she spends her time with her dog or maintains her house. Felt also spends time volunteering in her community and participating in mentorship work."I'm not getting paid for those things, but they're just really energizing because they're connected to purpose and meaning that really resonates with me and my value system," she said.Six months after she left her job, Felt said her mental health has improved, and her burnout is gone.<h2 id="00b03381-aadd-4ccc-ab9d-e412bf96c584">Micro-retirement has changed the way Felt sees her future</h2>Felt told BI that her extended break from work has given her the time and mental space to reevaluate what she wants out of her <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/quitting-corporate-job-content-creator-reseller-side-hustles-retire-early-2024-7">career</a>. She said "work-life balance and scheduling flexibility" will be a priority moving forward since her community has become more important, and she wants to be a mom someday."Maybe I'll work from home and continue on the corporate path, or maybe I'll start my own business," she said. "There's so much life to be lived outside of my office desk, and life really starts to get richer when it's more diversified."Felt started taking informational interviews six months into her micro-retirement. Still, she doesn't see herself seriously applying for roles until January 2025, partly because she wants to<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/egg-freezing-fertility-clinics-targeting-gen-z-women-high-cost-2024-6"> freeze her eggs</a> before returning to a full time position.Felt wants others female employees to know they don't have to sacrifice their personal lives for professional success."You can still be high achieving and successful as a woman and intentionally choose work-life balance," she said, "there needs to be harmony there."

After 10 years in corporate America, one woman took a 'micro-retirement.' It reversed burnout and improved her quality of life.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A Florida homeowner and landlord is prepping for another hurricane after Helene.</li><li>Kevin Stuteville said he's already faced $1.5 million in losses and expects more.</li></ul>Kevin Stuteville, 45, is prepping his St. Pete Beach, Florida, home for a second hurricane, Milton, after <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-real-estate-worth-it-home-prices-insurance-hurricane-helene-2024-10">Helene wreaked havoc just days before</a>.He put armor screens on the windows, half of the drywall has already been removed, and he's taken his dehumidifiers and fans out of the house so they don't get damaged in case he has to use them again."The contents of our entire home are still in my front yard," Stuteville told Business Insider. "I am on open water, and in 24 to 48 hours, my couch might be 10 miles away."<div type="image" title="The contents of a home in front of the property." height="378" width="640" msid="114100404" hostid="261" sizebytes="36270"></div>St. Pete Beach is a barrier island about nine miles from downtown St. Petersburg. According to FEMA, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.stpetebeach.org/173/Federal-Emergency-Management-Agency-FEMA">the entire city of St. Pete Beach is a within a flood zone</a>. Stuteville expects the worst for his home, but he also has about six other properties in the St. Petersburg and Tampa area to worry about.For him and other landlords in southwest Florida who've had their investment and rental properties damaged, there are two grim options: try to rebuild or sell and let somebody else do it.<h2 id="2d89986c-980a-4558-83f9-b14d843bdc78">Helene already caused damages for Stuteville</h2>Stuteville is the founder of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.effectiveagents.com/hurricane">Effective Agents</a>, a real-estate platform that helps people find realtors to help buy or sell properties. He also has six properties of his own — all with tenants."I have a tenant in particular who owns a clothing boutique," he said. "I was just there, and they're boarding up and doing all that they can.""I'd say two-thirds of them are in flood areas," he added. Stuteville said he's self-insured for all of his properties and on the hook for damages. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-home-insurance-prices-premium-effect-from-hurricanes-2024-9">The high costs of home and flood insurance</a> plus the lengthy process to recover damages was not worth it to him — and up until now, that worked out for him.<div type="image" title="The interior of a home with with drywall being taken out." height="480" width="640" msid="114100405" hostid="261" sizebytes="29340"></div>"The upside to self-insuring is that you don't have to screw with any of that — I haven't held insurance since the 2004 hurricanes," he said. "That's been 20 years I've been self-insured. I'm in the hole now because of this storm, but it's not as bad as I think it could have been. I'll be all right."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://consumerfed.org/reports/exposed-a-report-on-1-6-trillion-dollars-of-uninsured-american-homes/">According to a report from the Consumer Federation of America</a>, 10% of Florida homeowners are uninsured — ranking ninth in the country.Stuteville estimates that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/analysts-estimate-up-to-34-billion-damage-from-hurricane-helene-2024-10">he's lost about $1.5 million</a> from Helene and could lose another $1 million after Milton hits. Data firm CoreLogic estimated Hurricane Helene caused $30.5 billion to $47.5 billion in wind and flood damage across 16 states."We're just getting hit from all angles," he said. "The damages we take are going to deplete savings. It's just a bad couple of weeks. There's no way to prepare for something like this. You just take it one day at a time and that's it."<h2 id="c222d9b5-fff1-4375-a4a0-ca21053ec8de">Stuteville is staying put in St. Pete Beach</h2>Stuteville said that there are two paths for landlords going forward."You have to have a real serious kind of conversation with yourself about whether or not it's worth it to remodel," he said."You have to make a decision," he added. "Are you going to sell that property off and let someone else build and do it?"<div type="image" title="The backyard of a home close to the water in Florida." height="480" width="640" msid="114100406" hostid="261" sizebytes="56934"></div>For those who decide to rebuild or make repairs, Stuteville said that the equity in the property might be enough to take out a mortgage or line of credit to remodel if you're lucky. For those wanting to wash their hands of a home, you're probably going to take a loss, but it might not be that bad."I think people who are selling are going to have a loss that'll be somewhat dampened by the runup from COVID," he said. "Just their land value is substantial enough to diminish some of the losses that they would have."Stuteville anticipates property rehabbers and home flippers might buy and try their luck at homes damaged in the hurricane.For now, Stuteville is not selling — <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-milton-tampa-mayor-castor-evacuation-orders-die-warning-helene-2024-10">and he's staying</a>. Stuteville, his wife, and his children are staying in a hotel in downtown St. Petersburg. That way, he can quickly gain access to damaged homes and buildings and make repairs as fast as he can."I'm not evacuating out of St. Petersburg — I just can't," he said. "I've got to stay somewhat close so I can take care of any issues that come up with our properties and people. I have employees here that are all evacuating and we've had to basically shut down the business because people can't work and be on the road up to Alabama or Jacksonville trying to get out of town."Are you a landlord with properties affected by Hurricane Helene or Milton, and are open to sharing your story? We want to hear from you. Reach out to reporter Jordan Pandy, at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:jpandy@businessinsider.com">jpandy@businessinsider.com</a>, with your story.

A self-insured landlord in Hurricane Milton's path is still recovering after Helene but isn't evacuating to stay nearby and help his properties

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Remote employees upset about return-to-office mandates basically have no legal path against the policies.</li><li>"Unless there's a protected reason under established law," a worker has no legal recourse, an attorney said.</li></ul>It's 2021, one year after the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the workplace. Your boss says the company does not plan to require employees to return to the office. You give up your $3,000-a-month apartment in the city to buy a house hundreds of miles away.Fast forward two years, and now the company requires you to either come into the office five days a week, or leave.This is a reality that remote workers around the US are either facing or bracing for — some of them wondering whether they can successfully fight these mandates in the courts.The answer, according to employment lawyers, is — not really"Unless there's a protected reason under established law" such as a medical circumstance, "then you have no recourse," Ron Zambrano, the employment litigation chair at the California-based law firm, West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Business Insider.When <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-ceo-return-to-office-mandate-5-days-week-2024-9">Amazon</a> announced its plans last week to end remote work and require corporate employees to be in the office five days a week, some <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-workers-blast-strict-rto-mandate-five-days-week-2024-9">staffers swiftly criticized</a><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-workers-blast-strict-rto-mandate-five-days-week-2024-9"> the megacorporation's decision</a> in an internal Slack channel.The move by the Seattle-based tech giant comes after other major companies, including <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-rto-jobs-mandate-also-return-to-roots-2024-5">Walmart</a>, recently hardened return-to-office protocols. And the latest <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-requiring-return-to-office-rto-mandate">push by companies to get workers back at their desks</a> could <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-ceo-return-to-work-policy-rto-five-days-office-2024-9">trigger an even broader RTO trend</a>.Some workers have filed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/05/06/return-office-mandates-lawsuits-employees/">lawsuits against their companies</a> or charges with the National Labor Relations Board over RTO mandates. But remote employees who simply argue that returning to the office is an inconvenience to their lifestyle have "zero chance" to fight the RTO mandate with legal action, Zambrano said.The vast majority of employees across the country are considered <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/can-boss-require-turn-on-webcam-during-meetings-fire-you-2022-10">"at-will,"</a> meaning an employer can terminate them at any time as long as the reason for the dismissal is not illegal. At-will employment also means that an employee can quit at any time."Unless you can assert some type of statutory rights, an employer can do whatever they want," including forcing employees back into the office full-time, said Zambrano.Domenique Camacho Moran, a partner at the law firm Farrell Fritz in New York, who tends to represent management in employment-related matters, told BI that most employees "do not have a choice" regarding how their job is performed."Absent some contractual obligation, it is the employer's decision as to whether a job should or should not be performed remotely," Camacho Moran said.Even if an employee was specifically hired as a remote worker, unless a written contract guarantees remote work for a set period of time, that employee still would have no legal grounds to push back against an RTO policy, the attorneys said."There's no law in any state, there's no law on the federal level, that gives anyone the right to just say, 'I want to work from home, and that's my right.' So until that changes, you have to fit into something else," Zambrano said, adding that an employee using a medical reason to justify working from home would have the most legal recourse.According to Zambrano, if an employer rejects a doctor-prescribed "reasonable accommodation" for an employee to work from home, the employer could face legal liability under certain state laws and the federal <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-ask-for-health-accommodations-remote-work-flexible-hours-2022-8">Americans with Disabilities Act</a>.However, said Camacho Moran, just because an employee has an illness or a disability "does not mean that remote work is the appropriate accommodation.""They don't get to choose their accommodation," said Camacho Moran. "They must be accommodated if they have a disability that requires accommodation, but it's not a choice as to which accommodation."Reasonable accommodations under the ADA can include modifying a work schedule or workplace setting, as well as moving to remote work.Assuming an employee's job can be done remotely, and an employer does not permit an employee to work from home due to a legitimate medical reason, the employer would open itself up to potential legal action, Zambrano said.

Employees angry about RTO mandates have essentially no legal path to fight them

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The death of a 26-year-old EY employee has triggered a conversation about India's work culture.</li><li>The employee's family says that she was overworked — and that it reflects a wider problem.</li></ul>Fourteen-hour work days, meetings during vacations, and no overtime.To some, this may sound like a job from hell. But for many employees in India, it's just another working day.India has one of the toughest work cultures in the world. In 2022, according to the most recently available data from the <a target="_blank" href="https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/working-time/#">International Labour Organization</a>, the average employee in India worked 46.7 hours a week, compared to about 38 in the US.Not only are employees in India working long hours, but many are also doing it under intense pressure."The pressure is very, very high," Jennifer Hephzibah, a senior HR professional in India, told Business Insider. "If you don't deliver it at a particular time, you either lose your bonus, or you lose your job. It doesn't matter what you're going through otherwise."A Boston Consulting Group <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/india-hr-revolution-building-workplaces-for-the-future&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1727195342438866&amp;usg=AOvVaw366N6_QMHZIy6fbfnMv__Y">survey</a> of 11,000 workers in eight countries in October 2023 found that 58% of Indian respondents reported feeling burned out — the highest share of any of the countries, including the US (50%), the UK (47%), and Japan (37%).<h2 id="56dd16d5-8f41-4ab5-aad1-efb517f1a780">'Glorifying overwork'</h2>This always-on culture has come under the spotlight recently following the death of an EY employee, Anna Sebastian Perayil, in July.Peryail's father, Sebastian Perayil, told<a target="_blank" href="https://www.thenewsminute.com/news/what-action-will-ey-take-anna-sebastians-father-speaks-to-tnm"> The News Minute</a> that he believed his daughter died of a combination of health issues, including work stress and acid reflux which triggered a lack of sleep. The official cause of Perayil's death, however, remains unclear."Anna was unable to sleep on most days and couldn't eat on time," he told the publication. "After a whole night of work, she would have to wake up at 7:30 the next morning and repeat the same cycle."According to<a target="_blank" href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/maharashtra/mother-pens-letter-following-death-of-26-year-old-daughter-due-to-work-stress-urges-ey-chairman-to-reflect-on-toxic-work-culture/article68656957.ece"> The Hindu</a>, Perayil's mother emailed Rajiv Memani, the chairman at EY India, in the wake of Perayil's death, saying her daughter had collapsed four months into the job after struggling with "the workload, new environment, and long hours."She also accused EY of "glorifying overwork."EY told BI it was "taking the family's correspondence with utmost seriousness and humility" and called Perayil's death an "irreparable loss."<h2 id="0e580f7b-a1b5-40de-bcd5-4c5e1cd9f1da">A 70-hour workweek</h2>Concerns about India's workplace culture are not new.Last year, the software billionaire and Infosys founder Narayana Murthy sparked controversy after saying that young people in India should be willing to work 70 hours a week to help the country progress."India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world," he told<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES8ZNSTswrs"> The Record</a>, going on to say that unless India improved several factors including its work productivity, "we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress.""So, therefore," he continued, "my request is that our youngsters must say: "'This is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours a week.'"The comments appear to reflect wider expectations in India, even among employers with head offices elsewhere.Kavach Khanna, a former EY analyst in India, told BI that he believed he was expected to do more work than his US colleagues."We used to talk to colleagues in the US in the same roles, and their experience was completely different from ours," Khanna said. "They would get to go for client meetings, leave the office on time, no stretched workdays, and they weren't overburdened like we were."EY did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<h2 id="c34411b0-4cf7-4ac6-b8b5-d828d78369df">Cost centers and cheap labor</h2>Huge multinational companies, such as EY, Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Accenture, have set up cost centers in India.These centers, also called Global Capability Centers (GCCs), manage everything from cyber security to product development. They can also manage human resources and accounting.They are cheaper to run in India due to lower labor costs, and they help companies tap into a wide and hungry pool of tech-savvy, English-speaking talent.An <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_in/topics/consulting/gcc/2023/06/ey-future-of-gccs-in-india-a-vision-2030.pdf">EY report in 2023 </a>projected that India is set to host at least 2,400 such centers by 2030, with a market value of more than $100 billion.An associate at the Indian office of a multinational banking and advisory firm told BI that even at his Western company, he believed Indian employees were expected to work longer and harder.He said 16- to 18-hour workdays — including some weekends — were normal in his job."A lot of multinational corporations use India as a cost center because of the cheap labor," said the associate, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. "Offices in other countries have boundaries and then dump their extra work on us."Jeanie Chang, an executive coach who specializes in workplace mental health, said she had noticed such a trend, too. "It definitely exists that multinational companies tend to think, 'We love that the Indians work hard, so let's keep doing that.'"Chang also noted that some Asian communities place a cultural importance on work ethic that can lend itself to exploitation."There's a word in Japanese and Korean," Chang said, "that literally means 'overworking yourself to death.' That should say something."<h2 id="799c5726-4028-4993-85d3-1175f4f96f4d">Fear of replacement</h2>So what is stopping employees from demanding change?Part of it might come down to competition. In 2022, <a target="_blank" class="" href="http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/India%20Employment%20Report%202024.pdf">according to the India Employment Report 2024</a>, India's youth made up nearly 83% of the country's total unemployed population. With <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/68432023-Economic-Survey-2023-24-Complete-document">India's workforce</a> thought to number well over 500 million, each job counts.Hephzibah, the senior HR professional, said that the sheer number of available workers has contributed to a feeling that employees are expendable, and has held them back from saying no to unreasonable demands for fear of losing their jobs.Perayil's mother's email, for instance, said her daughter "did not know how to say no.""She was trying to prove herself in a new environment, and in doing so, she pushed herself beyond her limits," the email said,Hephzibah said this was especially true for younger workers, who may not have enough experience to become critical within the company yet."In the bigger companies," she said, "if you don't deliver, that's it: You're replaced."<h2 id="76d9e66d-7e50-4929-bb3f-86da08d669dd">Cultural differences</h2>Chang told BI that she's had Indian employees point out their lack of resources compared to international peers in the same company."They tell me, 'Jeanie, we don't have effective mental-health resources, but we hear the US does,'" she said.In a<a target="_blank" href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx"> Gallup State of the Global Workplace report</a> published in 2024, only 14% of the roughly 2,262 Indian employees surveyed said they were thriving at their workplace, compared with 34% of the 128,278 employees surveyed globally.Hephzibah, who has worked in both Indian-owned and multinational companies, told BI that multiple colleagues had left or requested transfers outside India in recent years — mainly because of the work culture.She also found cultural differences when conducting training sessions for employees in India and the US.When implementing the Indian training schedule for one company's American employees, Hephzibah faced pushback on issues like late session timings."They said, 'We're not going to work after 6 and they could clearly call it out without feeling bad," Hephzibah said. "The problem in India is that people get scared to speak up because their jobs might be impacted."<h2 id="c1e23a63-b3a5-4dfe-9fda-a228d77f5f16">The way forward</h2>In Hephzibah's opinion, overtime and vacation policies need to be strictly enforceable in India."Outside, we're very careful to communicate that we care because they have legal backing to sue," she said. "Over here, that entire system is missing."She agreed with Chang that effecting systemic change would also be up to the leaders and middle management, and not just down to a country's laws."What is the leadership believing in? Is leadership overworking?" Chang said. "Because if they are, they're going to overwork their employees."

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