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Corporate <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> reported the strongest <keyword id="6357342" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="hiring" source="Orion">hiring</keyword> sentiments globally for the next three months, with 37 per cent of employers planning to increase their staff strength as businesses are bullish about the country's economic position, a survey said on Tuesday. According to the ManpowerGroup <keyword id="6355127" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="employment" source="Orion">Employment</keyword> <keyword id="20206852" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="outlook" source="keywords">Outlook</keyword> Survey Q4, 2024, of nearly 3,150 employers across sectors and regions, the <keyword id="20449001" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="net-employment-outlook" source="keywords">Net Employment Outlook</keyword> in India is the strongest worldwide at 37 per cent, followed by Costa Rica (36 per cent) and the US (34 per cent) in the second and third place respectively. The Net Employment Outlook (NEO) is calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers who anticipate reductions to staffing levels from those who plan to hire. The India employment outlook for Q4 (October-December) stood at 37 per cent, up 7 per cent from Q3 2024, and unchanged when compared with the same time last year. "The hiring intention of employers signifies the positive outlook in the country's economic position that has been reinforced by exports as a result of multilateral foreign policies and large-scale infrastructure development. Coupled with this, is our demographic advantage that is expected to boost our competitiveness in the global market," said <keyword id="20933727" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sandeep-gulati" source="keywords">Sandeep Gulati</keyword>, Managing Director, <keyword id="20841782" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manpowergroup-india" source="keywords">ManpowerGroup India</keyword> and Middle East. According to the survey, employers across all sectors report net positive hiring intentions with the financial and real estate industry having the strongest outlook of 47 per cent, followed by information technology (46 per cent), industrials and materials (36 per cent) and consumer goods and services (35 per cent). The least optimistic prospects were witnessed in the communication services (28 per cent). The survey further noted that the Northern region of India continues to dominate the job demand with an outlook of 41 per cent followed by the West (39 per cent). Gulati further noted that "India is expected to focus on its high domestic consumption, economy-booster government schemes, increasing demand for outsourcing services and manufacturing boom. "With increased focus on skill development to meet market demands, India may be able to reduce unemployment and fasten the pace of economic development by creating a more capable and adaptable workforce that meets the needs of the emerging industries." Hiring managers across the Asia-Pacific countries anticipate the second strongest regional Outlook at 27 per cent, an increase of 4 per cent from the previous quarter but decreased when compared to the same time last year. India, Singapore, and China continue to report the strongest employment outlooks in the region. The most cautious employment outlooks were reported by employers in Hong Kong (8 per cent). Survey responses were collected from July 1-31, 2024, and 40,340 employers across 42 countries were asked about their fourth-quarter hiring intentions.

Indian employers most bullish globally on Oct-Dec quarter hiring: survey

<ul><li><keyword id="19897758" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="samsung" source="keywords">Samsung</keyword> will lay off over 200 people in India</li><li>Employees across various departments will be affected</li><li>Affected employees will receive three months of salary</li></ul> The tech industry has seen a wave of layoffs in the recent months and another company has now joined the fray. <keyword id="19945681" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="samsung-electronics" source="keywords">Samsung Electronics</keyword>, known across the world for its smartphones, appliances, and much more, has now decided to cut more than 200 jobs in India. The layoffs come at a time when the company is grappling with lesser sales due to lower consumer demand, a report in ET reveals. <h2>Samsung plans to lay off people in India </h2> Industry insiders told ET that the layoffs will affect various departments including mobile phones, home appliances, and consumer electronics. The cuts are part of Samsung’s broader effort to lower costs and maintain profitability during this challenging period. The layoffs represent around 9-10 percent of Samsung’s managerial staff in India, where the company employs about 2,000 executives. Those affected will receive three months’ salary along with a severance package offering one month’s salary for every year of service. <h2>Samsung's restructuring plans </h2> As part of its cost-cutting measures, Samsung is also considering merging some of its business divisions, such as television and home appliances. This restructuring, which aims to streamline operations and reduce inefficiencies, could lead to further layoffs. While no official decision has been made yet, reports suggest that the final plan will be confirmed after Diwali, a key festival season in India. The report also mentioned that Samsung has already frozen new hires, and positions left vacant by executives who have resigned are not being filled. Additionally, the company is expected to reduce the number of off-roll employees to further cut costs. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112853351" title="Samsung launches AI-powered washing machines, all you need to know" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"><payload><![CDATA[See also]]></payload></div> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112165411" title="India&amp;#39;s smartphone shipments dip 2% in Q2 2024 as heatwave, slower demand takes toll" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"><payload><![CDATA[See also]]></payload></div>

Samsung Electronics plans to lay off over 200 Indian employees to reduce costs, details inside

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Some Intel employees received pay cuts in 2023 to reduce costs and avoid layoffs.</li><li>Intel announced layoffs this year, affecting employees' promised stock bonuses.</li></ul>January 2023 was a different world for the top American semiconductor companies.Nvidia closed the month trading at $19.52 after reporting revenue down 21%. AMD traded at nearly four times the price of Nvidia.At the time, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger made a rare move. He took a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-ceo-takes-pay-cut-reduce-costs-prevent-layoffs-2023-2">25% pay cut</a> and asked much of his higher-level staff to take cuts of between 5% and 15% as part of a comprehensive cost-cutting effort. He restored <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/2023/02/intel-says-pay-cuts-are-temporary-will-begin-reversing-them-later-this-year.html">the affected paychecks</a> later that year.To compensate for lost wages, the company promised a "thank you" bonus in the form of one-time restricted stock unit grants, worth thousands for some, two sources said. The grants would be awarded in December 2023 and vest in December 2024.Since then, the chip industry saw a changing of the guard as Nvidia ushered in the AI boom. Meanwhile, layoffs and buyouts followed for Intel, as it announced in August that it would shed <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-qualcomm-takeover-bid-layoffs-foundry-spin-off-2024-9">15,000 employees</a> via voluntary separation agreements and layoffs. The affected employees were set to leave the company just a few months before the "thank you" RSUs were vested. Uncertainty about their bonuses was one of the many setbacks, along with budget cuts and layoffs, that Intel employees had to deal with in recent years. A new round of layoffs began earlier this month, while Gelsinger announced a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-ceo-pat-gelsinger-turnaround-plan-aws-2024-9">turnaround plan</a> in September to help the company become more capital-efficient."We are executing on our previously announced cost action plan while maintaining competitive compensation and benefits programs," an Intel spokesperson said. "The actions we are taking are intended to make us a leaner, more efficient company and position the business for long-term success."BI spoke to eight current and former Intel employees for this report. They asked to remain anonymous to discuss internal matters as some still work at the company.Most employees who took the voluntary severance had target end dates around September 30. Laid-off workers will largely be out by the end of November, according to WARN notices and LinkedIn posts by affected employees."We had so much hope," one engineer said of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-pat-gelsinger-20-billion-manufacturing-factories-fabs-semiconductors-2021-3">Gelsinger's return</a> to the company in 2021 and his road map. "Setbacks are understandable, but what is leadership gonna do?"<h2 id="2fb124e0-92af-46c8-937c-d564c046f3d6">'Thank you' bonuses</h2>After Intel announced the upcoming wave of layoffs in August, the company issued employees with a sheet of FAQs, referring to an existing policy that said unvested RSUs are forfeited and returned to the company on an employee's last day. In other words, departing employees would not get their 'thank you' shares.What followed was an "uproar," said three Intel employees who had taken the voluntary buyout offer or who had been notified they would be laid off. Intel employees left frustrated comments underneath the FAQs on the company's internal network, two departing workers said.The issue eventually came up at a weekly Q&amp;A with Gelsinger, one of the two employees said. Under pressure, the company changed course. Departing employees affected by the pay cuts in 2023 will now receive a cash equivalent of the stock price on December 3 and be paid the next payday, according to one laid-off Intel worker."It was more a general uproar over the fact that, at least for the involuntary folks, that Intel would be screwing people out of the cash — in particular after doing so many 'petty' level cuts over the past few months," said the same laid-off employee."We were here that whole year and made the sacrifices," another former employee said.<h2 id="0a5798e6-636d-482d-8a0f-47585c3de10f">Shrinking perks</h2>Intel sent out a slideshow with information on cuts to employee benefits upon the August announcement of the coming layoffs.Intel announced it would reduce its global real estate footprint by two-thirds and consolidate its more concentrated hubs, according to a slide obtained by BI. The gym on-site would no longer offer personal training services. The slide also said reimbursement of internet, phone, and commuting costs would be reduced or eliminated.In September, signs went up in at least one Oregon office informing employees that fruits and beverages would no longer be free."That's petty, right? How much does one piece of fruit per day cost?" one former employee told BI.A current Intel employee in Oregon said that their floors were consolidated recently so that "we can turn off the AC and lights" on the others.The cuts impacted bigger perks, too. An Intel employee would be eligible for a four-week sabbatical after every four years of work or eight weeks after seven years. The slide said that the sabbatical benefit has been reduced to one month after seven years of service — leading to frustration from some employees who were set to take them soon and now must wait, one departing employee said.Employees could also previously take a corporate air shuttle that facilitated transportation and collaboration between certain company sites in Arizona, California, and Oregon. Now the shuttle has been suspended.The timing of the cuts also made it difficult to plan retirement parties for employees — a tradition at the company. One retired Oregon Intel employee told BI that the internal employee forums contained an updated list of FAQs in September for those who had chosen the voluntary buyout. Employees were encouraged to initiate happy hours among themselves and to avoid the word "celebration" despite a tradition of setting aside company funds for retirement parties."You don't want to say, 'Oh, we're celebrating this person and spending money, but we're also going to lay off all these other people," said a long-tenured employee taking the buyout. "But it was still hard to see managers consider just sending an e-card."<h2 id="6a63ad23-2f60-42b0-b982-7e86471efbb1">Bygone benefits</h2>Intel has long trailed other tech giants when it comes to take-home compensation.SEC filings for Intel, AMD, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Qualcomm show median compensation over the last five years has increased at least 12% or, in some cases, much more, in all of those companies except Intel, where median compensation has increased 4%. One Intel veteran who took the buyout told BI that the company's benefits beyond the norm helped keep employees loyal even though pay was lower than some peers. Tech companies across the industry have also been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/big-tech-workers-pushed-limits-of-perks-benefits-pampering-over-2024-10">slashing employee perks</a>.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-buyouts-new-ventures-philanthropy-wedding-planning-2024-10">Some Intel employees</a>, especially those with the company for decades, are leaving with impressive payouts. Two employees said they will receive 19 months of severance pay on top of some longevity rewards and sabbatical benefits that will be paid out on top.In addition to periodic paid sabbaticals, Intel employees reached a new tier of benefits when their age, combined with their years of service, reached 55 and then 75, according to one employee. The "Rule of 75" is of a bygone era when corporations offered hearty pensions. Intel employees who joined the company before it <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/50863/000005086320000020/a401kdocument12312019.htm#:~:text=As%20of%20January%201%2C%202011,or%20after%20the%20effective%20date.">closed its pension plan</a> to new entries in 2011 still get payouts.Even beyond the lifers receiving last decade's benefits, not all departing employees are bitter."Intel has been generous when they did not have to be," said one laid-off employee of the severance package offered.Intel's shares dropped to their lowest values in a decade in September, and the company <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/intels-dow-status-under-threat-struggling-chipmakers-shares-plunge-2024-09-03/">may be removed</a> from the blue-chip index—an index that tracks the most stable companies. The company reports third-quarter earnings on Thursday.Are you leaving Intel too? Or sticking around? Got a tip or an insight to share? Contact BI's 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.Contact Helen Li at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:hli@insider.com">hli@insider.com</a> or use the secure-messaging app Signal with the username: hliwrites.99.

Intel employees face 'setbacks' as the company slashes staff, pay, and perks

<ul class="summary-list"><li>East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, has the longest average commute time at 36.2 minutes one way.</li><li>The New York City metro area ranked second, while four California cities were in the top eight.</li></ul>Tired of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/time-money-spent-traffic-per-year-us-cities-new-york-los-angeles-san-francisco-atlanta-2017-2">sitting in traffic</a>? So are many residents of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and the New York City area.Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that residents of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/where-to-move-with-graduate-degree-biggest-return-2023-8">East Stroudsburg</a>, a city about 40 miles north of Allentown in Pennsylvania, have the longest commute times of any metro area. Residents commute over 36 minutes each way on average, slightly more than in the New York-Newark-Jersey City at just under 36 minutes. The data analyzes Americans 16 or older who don't work from home and commute via car or public transit.According to a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gallup.com/401384/indicator-hybrid-work.aspx#:~:text=Employees%20are%20returning%20to%20the%20office%2C%20but%20with%20more%20remote,21%25%20work%20on%2Dsite.">November 2023 Gallup poll</a>, 27% of remote-capable employees work fully remotely, while 52% are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employee-engagement-productivity-remote-work-hybrid-burnout-managers-office-expectations-2024-1">hybrid</a>. While many younger Americans in particular are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-priced-out-of-cities-into-suburbs-housing-crisis-2024-1">moving to the suburbs</a>, more than three-quarters of American workers in these remote-capable jobs still need to live close enough to an office to meet their expectations. Occasionally, some Americans make the decision to become <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/supercommute-ohio-nyc-wsj-flight-hotel-money-work-job-commuter-2024-1">super-commuters</a> who fly in for work once a month.The average commute time in East Stroudsburg — sometimes considered the gateway to the Poconos — may be the longest since residents often work in larger metropolitan cities like New York City, Allentown, or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reasons-happy-philadelphia-after-los-angeles-2023-9">Philadelphia</a>. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.rent.com/pennsylvania/east-stroudsburg-apartments/rent-trends">Rent.com estimates</a>, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in East Stroudsburg is $1,726 — compared to $4,634 in New York City. More people looking to commute into larger cities has contributed to greater congestion on major roadways.Those in the New York-Newark-<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/people-moving-from-nyc-too-expensive-to-jersey-city-2023-9">Jersey City</a> area have average commutes of 35.8 minutes each way. Given New York City's congestion — and the lengthy commute via public transit from neighboring cities to the Big Apple — perhaps this statistic is not too surprising.California had four metro areas in the top eight. Stockton, a city in California's Central Valley, has nearly 34-minute commute times in part due to the city's proximity to Sacramento and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-from-san-francisco-to-texas-for-work-life-balance-2023-8">Bay Area</a>. The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario area similarly has commute times of nearly 33 minutes as it's near the Los Angeles area. Yuba City north of Sacramento has the same commute time as the Washington, DC-Arlington-Alexandria area.Other major metro areas with particularly long commute times include Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, and Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land — all at about 30 minutes.On the flip side, the shortest commute time is 15.4 minutes in Great Falls, Montana, as most residents drive to work within or close to the city boundaries. The Lewiston, Idaho area had an average commute time of 16 minutes, while Manhattan, Kansas, and Casper, Wyoming were both at 16.2 minutes.Do you commute far distances to work and want to share your story? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.

The 10 US cities with the longest commute times

The list of major companies requiring employees to return to the office

<ul><li><keyword id="19906778" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Infosys" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Infosys" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> has delayed hiring of 2000 young professionals</li><li><keyword id="20033579" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NITES" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="NITES" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="NITES">NITES</keyword> has filed a complaint in the matter</li><li>Infosys is also making headlines for its new Power Programme</li></ul> The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), a Pune-based <keyword id="22859482" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IT-employee-union" source="keywords">IT employee union</keyword>, has filed a formal complaint with the Ministry of Labour and Employment against Infosys. The union alleges that Infosys has delayed the <keyword id="22570539" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="onboarding-process" source="keywords">onboarding process</keyword> for around 2,000 <keyword id="22859483" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fresh-engineering-graduates" source="keywords">fresh engineering graduates</keyword> for over two years, leaving them in a state of uncertainty and distress. <h2>Infosys delayed freshers' onboarding for more than two years</h2>According to NITES, these graduates were selected for roles such as system engineer and digital specialist engineer as early as April 2022. Despite receiving offer letters, the onboarding process has been repeatedly postponed. The affected graduates were required to participate in unpaid pre-training programs and undergo additional, unexpected assessments, further complicating their entry into the workforce. NITES claims that despite fulfilling all the prerequisites set by Infosys, these young professionals have been kept in limbo, leading to significant frustration and anxiety. The union views this situation as a serious breach of trust by Infosys, which has long been regarded as one of the pillars of India’s IT industry. Harpreet Singh Saluja, President of NITES, expressed deep concern over the situation, emphasizing the broader implications for the Indian IT sector. “We believe that this is not just a breach of trust by one of India’s largest IT companies, but also a significant issue that impacts the future of our country’s <keyword id="22360158" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IT-workforce" source="keywords">IT workforce</keyword> and economy. We are calling on the government to take immediate and strict action against Infosys to ensure that such exploitative practices are halted and that the rights of these young professionals are protected,” Saluja said, according to a report by The Economic Times. The complaint filed by NITES highlights that even after long delays, the graduates were asked to participate in an unpaid virtual pre-training program from July 1 to July 24, 2024. They were promised final joining dates of either August 19 or September 2, 2024. However, despite completing the training, they were informed that they would need to retake the exam offline, once again without pay. This has only added to their frustration and uncertainty about their future with the company. <h2>Infosys’ Power Programme</h2>In a contrasting development, Infosys is also making headlines for its recent campus placement drive, where it has introduced a new 'power programme.' According to a report by The Times of India, the company is offering pay packages of up to Rs 9 lakh per annum to select colleges, a significant increase from its standard entry-level packages, which typically range from Rs 3-3.5 lakh. This move is seen as part of Infosys’ strategy to attract highly specialized talent in areas such as coding, software development, cloud computing, AI/ML, and cybersecurity. Infosys plans to hire between 15,000 and 20,000 graduates in FY25. During its earnings call last month, Infosys announced plans to resume campus placements and off-campus fresher hiring in the current fiscal year. The top four IT firms in India are expected to collectively add about 82,000 freshers in FY25. Among them, HCLTech and <keyword id="19945574" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="wipro" source="keywords">Wipro</keyword> plan to hire 10,000 and up to 12,000 freshers, respectively. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/work-life-balance-is-a-myth-photo-of-man-working-in-front-of-momo-stall-goes-viral-internet-reacts/articleshow/112516510.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">'Work-life balance is a myth’: Photo of man working in front of momo stall goes viral, Internet reacts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/article/arrange-or-love-marriage-debate-is-passe-people-are-now-marrying-their-ai-partners/articleshow/112522764.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Arrange or love marriage debate is passe, people are now marrying their AI partners</a>

Infosys delays onboarding of 2,000 graduates for more than 2 years, NITES files complaint

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Mike Manalac, a CPA, left Baltimore for San Francisco to pursue a job at Google.</li><li>He faced challenges, including initial rejection from tech giants and a grueling commute to Google.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mikefromaccounting.com/">Mike Manalac</a>, a 39-year-old accounting manager at Google in Chicago. It's been edited for length and clarity.I'm a CPA who started my career in 2008 during the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woman-warned-great-recession-2008-brooksley-born-wall-street-sexism-2024-3">Great Recession</a>. I spent eight years working as an auditor, first at CohnReznick in Baltimore and then at <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/remote-work-good-for-productivity-here-to-stay-pwc-2024-9">PwC</a> in San Francisco, where I worked for about five months while looking for tech jobs.After a brief stint in financial reporting with Walmart's e-commerce division, I <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-bureaucracy-working-from-home-office-eric-schmidt-wfh-rto-2024-8">joined Google</a> in 2017 as a senior accountant based in Sunnyvale, California. I transferred to Google's Chicago office in 2019.<h2 id="aebbdeae-cdb3-4d2f-91c7-1520000be47b">At CohnReznick, I put in 70-hour workweeks crammed in a cubicle under the glow of fluorescent lights</h2>It wasn't all bad, but it wasn't the fun and fulfilling career I had dreamed of. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley employees were <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/perks-that-silicon-valley-workers-can-take-advantage-of-2019-9">showered with perks</a> and would spend their days riding around a corporate campus on colorful bikes (at least, that's what I saw in the media). It felt like a distant utopia for a normie like me.One of my favorite movies was the 2013 comedy "The Internship." One day, after watching Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson parade around Silicon Valley for the millionth time, I decided I needed to make a change. Baltimore was my hometown, and I loved it, but it didn't offer the job opportunities of a top-tier city. I felt stuck.I realized that if I wanted a coveted job at Google, I would have to go out and get it. I spent the next few days convincing myself that I wasn't crazy.<h2 id="b50d63d2-863b-4458-b130-99f4226b516c">I quit my job, emptied my house, sold my car, and hopped on a one-way flight to San Francisco</h2>I said goodbye to everything I had ever known. I had never visited San Francisco and arrived without a place to live. I had a job lined up with PwC, but that was always meant to be temporary. Once I got my bearings in San Francisco, I would start chasing after the dream job for which I uprooted my life.It didn't take long to get hit with a reality check. The recruiters at giants like Google and Facebook wouldn't give me the time of day. I had never worked for a Fortune 500 company and needed additional experience before the Big Tech companies would take me seriously.I accepted an offer with Walmart's e-commerce team in San Bruno to do financial reporting. One of my highlights was supporting the launch of Walmart's two-day shipping initiative to compete with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/is-amazon-prime-worth-it">Amazon Prime</a>. This was the type of work experience I needed to get on Big Tech's radar.A year and a half later, I was back interviewing with all the heavy hitters in Silicon Valley: Facebook, Amazon, Salesforce, Uber, Tesla, etc. I mostly secured these interviews by initiating a discussion with recruiters on LinkedIn. I fine-tuned my approach with every failed interview and started seeing repeated success. I'd later share my strategies in a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.mikefromaccounting.com/store-1/p/no-flux-given">playbook</a> I wrote and illustrated, where I help other stuck accountants land their dream jobs.I then found myself knocking on Google's door again. This time, it answered.<h2 id="20d86a68-48e2-4d13-afbb-700677a1d303">After a rigorous two-month interview process, my desire to work at Google became a reality in the fall of 2017</h2>Google offered me a senior accountant position with a lucrative compensation package that included a sign-on bonus, a six-figure salary, an annual performance bonus of 10% or more of my salary, and stock awards. The perks were as good as advertised, and Google met my expectations of a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-hired-me-without-college-degree-imposter-syndrome-2024-8">dream job</a>. The commute, however, was more like a nightmare.I was required to work from the Sunnyvale office, up to two hours from where I lived in San Francisco. I had moved across the country for my dream job, so I wouldn't let a four-hour daily commute stop me now. I spent the next year commuting 20 hours a week on a corporate shuttle bus, and it was grueling.I'd leave my apartment at 6:30 a.m. and head toward the bus stop. My workday started the moment I stepped onto the bus. When I arrived at the office around 9 a.m., I felt like I had already worked a half day.I'd do the same two-hour commute in the evening, leaving Sunnyvale at 5 p.m. and returning to San Francisco at 7 p.m. The hefty commute meant a lot of late dinners, an achy back, and limited time to go to the gym.<h2 id="12e6b3f1-2a82-4295-ad3b-6571130ee967">A year later, I volunteered for a transfer to Chicago to help with an office expansion</h2>At the time, leaving the so-called Bay Area "mothership" was seen as a risky move. I knew I'd miss beautiful San Francisco and the buzzing energy of working in the world's tech capital. I also knew Chicago was an amazing city, with a more manageable cost of living and closer proximity to my hometown.I left my heart in San Francisco, but Chicago is my kind of town. I <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tips-and-advice-for-first-time-homebuyer-2023-2">bought a house</a>, started a family, and shaved 15 hours off my weekly commute. I take the train to the office three days a week and spend the rest <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wfh-fears-impacting-kids-parenting-remote-work-2024-7">working from home</a>. I now have plenty of time to relax, and I can sit down with my family for dinner at a more reasonable time.<h2 id="fb9cbc66-29b0-4f56-9375-dd2b6721d258">Leaving the mothership hasn't slowed me down a bit</h2>I was promoted to manager in 2020 and now lead an accounting team supporting Google Search and YouTube.For anyone feeling stuck in their career, don't be afraid to take some risks and make some sacrifices. I ultimately had to bounce around the East Coast, West Coast, and Midwest to find the pleasant and fulfilling career I sought, but I found it.It started by uprooting my life and commuting four hours a day for my dream job at Google, and it was totally worth it.Want to share your story? Email Lauryn Haas at lhaas@businessinsider.com.

My dream job at Google came with a great salary and perks but a nightmare 4-hour commute. It was totally worth it.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>AWS CEO Matt Garman has been sent a letter from employees protesting his pro-RTO comments.</li><li>Garman had said most employees he's spoken to are "excited" about a five-day office return. </li></ul>Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-workers-blast-strict-rto-mandate-five-days-week-2024-9">facing backlash</a> from some employees over his comments about its return-to-office policy, according to an open letter obtained by Business Insider. Over 500 employees signed a letter sent to the AWS chief on Wednesday, criticizing his recent remarks about Amazon's mandate to return to the office five days a week, which is up from its previous policy of three days a week.The letter "urges" Garman to reconsider his position on the RTO mandate. It comes after <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-office-policy-aws-ceo-employees-rto-five-days-2024-10">Garman told staffers during an all-hands meeting</a> earlier this month that nine out of 10 employees he's spoken to are excited to return to the office full time.Garman addressed the policy, announced in September, for the first time in the all-hands meeting, saying, "There are other companies around" for any employee who doesn't wish to abide by the new policy, according to a transcript of the meeting reviewed by BI. He added that he didn't mean it in a "bad way." Some employees aren't buying Garman's comments that most people he had spoken to are "actually quite excited by this change," a copy of the letter and internal Slack messages viewed by BI shows. The letter states, "By rigidly mandating a 5-day in-office culture and telling employees who cannot or will not contribute to the company's mission in this specific way that 'there are other companies around,' you are silencing critical perspectives and damaging our future in doing so." Garman also said in the all-hands meeting that he hasn't seen people's ability to "really innovate" when they are not working together in person. The letter says his comments do "not align with the experiences of many employees."One staffer wrote on an Amazon Slack channel, in messages viewed by BI, "This statement from Matt doesn't ring true with me or our teams."Another staffer joked that Garman "ambushed- er spontaneously approached random AWS engineers" at the company's headquarters to come to the consensus that most employees he's spoken to are excited by the RTO mandate.Garman's remarks came after Amazon said in September it would <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-rto-faq-document-spells-out-new-rule-2024-9">require employees to work from the office</a> every day beginning next year. The policy is stricter than at Amazon's peer companies and, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-workers-blast-strict-rto-mandate-five-days-week-2024-9">by some accounts</a>, stricter than Amazon's office work policy before the pandemic. Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/ceo-andy-jassy-latest-update-on-amazon-return-to-office-manager-team-ratio">in a memo announcing the new mandate,</a> said that the company had made the decision to "further strengthen" its culture and teams.Amazon had 1.5 million employees in 2023, most of whom work in warehouses. There are more than 30,000 employees in the internal Slack channel where the letter originated. The letter has been signed by 523 staff from Amazon and AWS, with 172 of those including their names.In response to a request for comment about the letter, Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan told BI the company is offering resources to employees depending on their location, including elder care, pet sitters, caregiver referral services, and commuter benefits.Read a full copy of the open letter below: Not only are these comments inconsistent with the experiences of many employees, they indicate an outright abdication of AWS' role as one of the world's most innovative companies and a leader in our industry. By making these statements, you are continuing and compounding a trend by Amazon's S-team of misrepresenting the realities of working at Amazon and the impact this mandate will have on the company and, by extension, its customers. Amazon claims to be a data-driven company, and statements which rely on "we believe" and "I feel," or exclaim how many people are excited about something to justify themselves fail to achieve our standard of decision making for critical issues that impact hundreds of thousands of the company's employees and its customers. Your statements indicate that either you have not collected enough data to support your position but are moving ahead anyways, or you have seen the data which indicates otherwise and are choosing to ignore it, or you have motivations to support this policy which you are not being forthcoming about with those it impacts. All of these possibilities break the trust of your employees who have not only personal experience that shows the benefits of remote work, but have seen the extensive data which supports that experience. Data from independent research has shown time and time again that companies which embrace flexible in-office policies allow a more diverse set of workers to sustainably and effectively contribute to the shared goals of businesses like ours. If being inclusive and understanding of employees' personal working styles and circumstances isn't enough to justify why this is the right approach for us to take, research is clear that diverse perspectives lead to more innovation, productivity, and resilience. This diversity in backgrounds, locations, and working styles is essential to AWS' ability to hire and retain exceptional talent and remain a market leader and innovator in the future. By rigidly mandating a 5-day in-office culture and telling employees who cannot or will not contribute to the company's mission in this specific way that "there are other companies around," you are silencing critical perspectives and damaging our culture and our future in doing so. Moreover, this does not uphold Amazon's espoused "Strive to be Earth's Best Employer" leadership principle, especially for select and protected groups who have sought a safer, more inclusive, and healthier work environment and are disproportionately impacted by these policies. These groups include but are not limited to working parents (especially those with young children), employees who are neurodiverse or have disabilities or disorders, workers with caretaking responsibilities, and workers on a visa who have no choice but to comply or risk having to leave their home by quitting. While your remarks focus on some of the benefits you perceive in in-person collaboration, they fail to even acknowledge the significant challenges it presents to these valued workers who have often overcome adversity at every level in order to contribute to Amazon's mission. In order to highlight these challenges, we have included a selection of anonymous stories from Amazon employees about the impact Amazon's 3-day in-office policy has already had on their life and work with this letter. In addition, studies show that Return To Office mandates tend to push out more senior and tenured employees across the board , who may be best poised to participate in and give insight into these white-boarding and brainstorming sessions you refer to, while hurting the morale of those who stay. You have not addressed these issues nor presented any solution to them while touting the new and even more impactful 5-day policy. We do not accept this from our leaders. We see and value contributions from workers of these groups every day, and will not stand silently by while you dismiss their humanity and trivialize their impact. Our time working remotely during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic proved that we are effective, creative, and successful without being primarily in-person, and to take no lessons from that experience would be extremely disappointing, because Amazon is and always will be a global company. We will always collaborate with teams and stakeholders in different physical locations, countries, and timezones where the primary, and potentially only, interaction is virtual. We have tools and approaches to do this effectively which are not novel or difficult to use. On the contrary, pushing for more time in-office will harm these countless cross-regional interactions as there will be significantly fewer overlapping working hours between collaborators. This can lead to meetings that might have been done by videoconferencing now taking place via asynchronous mechanisms like email, which slows the velocity of decision-making from minutes to hours or days. Finally, by taking this action, AWS is not living up to its full potential and is creating a bleak outlook for its future. While it is absolutely true that there are challenges with flexible and remote work, we have always been a company that solves problems in new, exciting, and innovative ways, rather than relying on antiquated approaches that happened to work well some time in the past. The cloud computing industry that we now base our work and livelihoods on might not exist today if we had adhered to that restrictive thinking in our early days. Given the scale of the problems we tackle across a workforce which is distributed all over the world, we are not content with relying on spontaneous in-office conversations to make progress and drive new ideas. We are instructed to collect, interpret, and act on data and invent new mechanisms to affect the outcomes we want to see, not to sit back and hope good things happen. We worry that when customers see us encounter a true challenge and refuse to solve problems that stand in the way of embracing it, they will rightly lose trust in AWS' ability to innovate. For these reasons we urge you to reconsider your comments and your position on the proposed 5-day in-office mandate. Remote and flexible work is an opportunity for Amazon to take the lead, not a threat. We want to work for a company and for leaders that recognize and seize this moment to challenge us to reinvent how we work. Respectfully signed by 523 Amazonians, 172 of whom have elected to include their name below.Editor's note: BI has removed the names of the employees who signed the letter to protect their privacy.</blockquote>Are you a tech-industry employee or someone else with insight to share?Contact the reporters, Jyoti Mann and Ashley Stewart, via the encrypted messaging app Signal at jyotimann.11 or +1-425-344-8242. Email them at jmann@businessinsider.com and astewart@businessinsider.com. Use a nonwork device.

Read the letter sent to AWS CEO Matt Garman, signed by 500 employees, protesting his RTO comments

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Traffic patterns have shifted since the pandemic.</li><li>US drivers are taking 23% more car trips in the middle of the day than they did in 2019.</li></ul>After roads went eerily quiet during the early months of the pandemic, traffic is back with a vengeance. Traffic congestion is as bad as it was pre-pandemic in about half of the world's top urban areas, but traffic patterns have shifted, according to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://inrix.com/press-releases/2023-global-traffic-scorecard-us/">a new report by INRIX</a>, a transportation data and analytics company.Congestion no longer reflects the traditional nine-to-five work schedule. These days, as many Americans start a car trip at noon as do at five pm. Average hourly traffic during the middle of the day is up 23% since 2019, INRIX found.New remote and hybrid work schedules and a rise in car ownership in recent years have transformed traffic and congestion patterns.The INRIX report found that the traditional morning peak rush hour has given way to a steadier pace of trips starting later in the morning. The number of weekday car trips starting in the 6 AM hour fell from around 80 million a day in 2019 to about 50 million in 2023, while about 60 million trips began in the 9 AM hour in 2023, up from a little over 40 million in 2019. Over 75 million trips now start between noon and 1 PM.On the reverse side of the day, midafternoon trips are up and evening trips are down. Putting that all together, it looks like many Americans have shifted from a traditional 9-to-5 commute to a noon-to-4 or even more truncated workday.Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at INRIX, said that midday travel started to rise when COVID hit, and that pattern hasn't dissipated. Despite many employers pressuring their employees to spend more time in the office, remote work has endured. With more flexible work schedules, people are making more midday trips to the grocery store and the gym, or getting to work late or leaving early."They're either going into work late so that they can continue to drop kids off at school," he said. And "people are still doing midday or two o'clock trips" or leaving early for vacation.Congestion in cities varies based on where jobs are located. "The importance of downtown as a destination for commuting is much different in Dallas than it is in New York," Pishue said, noting that downtown Manhattan is home to far more of its region's jobs than downtown Dallas.INRIX calculates congestion by gathering data from millions of anonymized sensors and vehicles and commercial vehicle data. The report calculated commute times using the time taken to drive "to and from major employment centers within an urban area from surrounding commuting neighborhoods."This travel shift has many implications for policymakers and transportation planners. Mass transit schedules, road tolls, and even traffic lights have long been designed around the 9-to-5 workday and the rush hours that it creates. But traffic data shows cities might need to adjust their schedules and redesign their physical infrastructure to fit the new post-pandemic, remote work paradigm."This is something that now needs attention," Pishue said.<div type="image" title="PJ Clarks in New York City" height="1333" width="2000" msid="112063713" hostid="261" sizebytes="293612"></div><h2 id="1c481284-b034-4152-810b-b67a65681ae4">Congestion is here to stay</h2>Since the pandemic hit, mass transit ridership has plummeted while driving has become more popular.New York City had the worst congestion of any city in the world in 2023, the INRIX report found. Last year, New Yorkers lost an average of 101 hours to congestion delays. The city saw a 13% year-over-year increase in vehicle trips into its downtown — the sharpest increase in the country.Car ownership has also <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/car-ownership-statistics/">risen in recent years</a>, including in New York.Car ownership in the five boroughs has soared over the last decade. While the population of New York City residents rose 1.4% between 2012 and 2021, the number of registered passenger vehicles <a target="_blank" href="https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/04/19/komanoff-dissects-new-york-citys-car-baby-boom">rose by 12%</a>. Still, about 54% of city households reported not owning a car in 2021.A year into the pandemic, Americans drove more despite many closed offices. People drove 2% more, measured by mileage, across US cities in March 2021 than in February 2020 and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/the-pandemic-changed-car-ownership-how-can-cities-adapt/604497/">20% more than in March 2020</a>, when pandemic lockdowns first took effect.The shift from denser urban living to suburban and even rural living is part of this uptick in driving. Many city dwellers moved into far-flung, car-dependent exurbs and rural towns during the pandemic — and that trend <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-young-kids-families-fleeing-big-cities-urban-doom-loop-2024-7">appears to be continuing</a>. For many, this means more time in their cars.Have you changed your commute in the last couple years? Tell your story to this reporter at <a target="_blank" class="" href="mailto:erelman@businessinsider.com">erelman@businessinsider.com</a>

The noon-to-4 is the new 9-to-5 for driving commuters, but it's not helping traffic congestion

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Park My Fleet launched as a remote-first company during the pandemic.</li><li>CEO Mike Landau told BI that it has a work-from-anywhere policy, and he doesn't plan to change it.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Mike Landau, the founder and CEO of Park My Fleet, a remote-first company that provides services to commercial vehicle fleets. Business Insider has verified his identity and employment. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I launched Park My Fleet during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown. That gave me no choice but to start the company remotely and rely on the experience and maturity of the people we were hiring to get the job done right from home.Before that, I firmly believed that you need to be in the office to build the team and have cohesion, but my thoughts on that changed completely during the pandemic. I was no longer geographically restricted to recruiting and acquiring talent.Since then, I've found that you don't need to be in the office to have cohesion among teams and execute; you can be successful without being together physically.<h2 id="1520e087-fe13-41e2-8f3a-f7f815b075c9">The world is my oyster for recruitment </h2>As the company grew, I became increasingly enamored with remote work. From a recruitment perspective, the world is my oyster. I like that employees don't have to think about their commute or can still do the school pickup, which helps their work-life balance. It also doesn't matter to me how you spend your work break time, and I believe we've had a very high employee retention rate because of this flexibility.Most Park My Fleet employees are US-based, but we have tech teams in Costa Rica and Israel. Aside from that, we have some physical locations that require people to work on vehicles, and sales employees carry out client visits, but everyone else is remote. I trust people are disciplined enough to work from home and do the job.<h2 id="8864a153-4595-4975-831f-08da4b850033">We have a camera-on policy </h2>Even though I was initially kind of forced to operate a remote-first company, I continue to see the significant benefits of being able to recruit people from all over the world. We still try to get together and have quarterly team-building events or at least twice a year so people get some face time with their colleagues. We also have a camera-on policy, so everyone can put a face to a name.I find it a lot easier to collaborate remotely, especially with things like sharing a screen online, rather than having people huddled around one screen and looking at something or trying to connect to a projector in a conference room.I have an office in my house, making it a comfortable and enjoyable workplace. We have a work-from-anywhere policy, too; as long as employees comply with local employment laws, then I'm happy for them to do that. I've worked from hotels on the beach and in Europe while vacationing.The one downside that I see with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-requiring-return-to-office-rto-mandate">remote working</a> is that it could be daunting for new hires, particularly if they are used to an office environment. Also, it might be challenging to get everybody up to speed, familiarize them with the organizational chart, and help them understand how the internal plumbing of the business works.But we try to overcome that with face-to-face video calls. There are people we've interviewed for various roles who said they wanted to be in an office and would thrive better in that environment, which I respect.<h2 id="c6ebd04b-74a7-4175-801e-8ca376e48ebb">RTO probably makes sense for Amazon </h2>Large organizations like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-office-five-days-rto-exec-andy-jassy-2024-10">Amazon may need that level of connectivity</a>, and that's probably the right decision for them. I don't think there's anything wrong with in-person office work; it makes sense in certain environments. However, remote working is best for me as the CEO of a company growing nimbly and trying to get the right people in the right roles quickly and efficiently.As an employee who joined a company as a remote worker, it would feel like a bait-and-switch move if the CEO then decided to change the remote work policy. I would find that very disconcerting. I think it would not be good for company morale, and I have no intention of mandating a return to the office. While there are pros and cons to both, the pros outweigh the cons for us as an organization.

I'm the CEO of a remote-first company. I'll never ask my employees to return to the office.  

<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."

The death of a young EY employee is raising questions over India's 'always-on' work culture

A couple of years back, anybody with a full-time job across the globe used to say that they work a "9 to 5 (9 am to 5 pm)." However, as per a recent report, that is no longer the average working hours and more and more employees are now adapting to a <keyword id="23061305" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="flexible-work-style" source="keywords">flexible work style</keyword>. The <keyword id="20534318" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus-pandemic" source="keywords">coronavirus pandemic</keyword>, in 2020, saw a major change in work patterns across the globe. As companies shifted their operations remote overnight, employees began working at their own pace, at their own time. At the time, many reports had come up that the future of work would be flexibility in terms of working hours and location. And as per a latest report, that has started happening. <h2>Bye bye 9-to-5 </h2> The standard 9-to-5 workday has now transitioned to more of a 10-to-4 routine, according to a 2023 Global Traffic Scorecard by INRIX Inc, a traffic analysis firm. This shift means fewer people are commuting during the early hours, creating a new trend in daily traffic flow. With fewer people hitting the road in the early morning or evening, traffic congestion has now shifted to the middle of the day. A CNBC report quotes Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst who authored the INRIX report, saying, "We’re seeing less activity in the morning and evening but much more around noon." Surprisingly, the number of trips made around noon is now almost equal to those at 9 am and 5 pm What was once a lull between morning and evening traffic has transformed into a peak period of congestion. <h2><keyword id="19901232" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="work-life-balance" source="keywords">Work-life balance</keyword> takes center stage </h2> The report also quotes David Satterwhite, CEO of Chronus. He says that many employees have embraced the ability to work remotely and only come into the office when absolutely necessary. This might mean arriving late, leaving early, or coming in for a brief meeting before heading back home. This trend, often called “coffee badging,” has become widely accepted as employees pop into the office for short stints and then continue their workday elsewhere. A recent survey from Owl Labs found that 58 percent of hybrid workers admitted to checking into the office for just a few hours before leaving. These days, more workers prioritise work-life balance, flexible hours, and mental health support over climbing the corporate ladder. Many are reluctant to spend more time at the office than necessary. In fact, if the option to work from home were removed, 66% of workers said they would start searching for a new job that offered more flexibility, according to Owl Labs. Of those, around 39% would quit right away. In January this year, a study conducted by Randstad also revealed that workers prioritise work-life balance over salary when evaluating potential job opportunities. According to the study, 57 percent of employees would reject a job offer if it negatively impacted their work-life balance. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/openai-to-meta-ai-companies-that-were-accused-of-copyright-infringement/articleshow/113088658.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/nykaa-sues-tata-cliq-ceo-gopal-asthana-for-contract-breach-says-he-approached-employees-to-join-rival-company/articleshow/113082094.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Nykaa sues Tata Cliq CEO Gopal Asthana for contract breach, says he approached employees to join rival company</a> OpenAI to Meta: AI companies that were accused of copyright infringement

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