Conversations around work-life balance are happening more than ever. One Indian woman, who has spent nearly a decade in the United States building her career, revealed that ‘overwork’ is not really limited to one country. Parinaya, an Indian woman who has worked in the US for nine years, revealed that receiving work calls even after logging off was a normal part of her experience.
Work call at 7 pm?
America is the land of opportunities, and most of us have heard that work also wraps up at five. The hustle is real but bounded. Europeans lounge through long lunches while Americans slave away, but at least go home on time. But according to Parinaya, who returned to Mumbai after a decade in the US, this assumption is rather a myth.In a recent Instagram video, she revealed what her nearly nine-year job in America actually looked like. And that is far from 5 pm goodbyes or clear boundaries between work and personal life. “The log off at 5 pm in the US myth needs to die. People assume the US work culture clocks out at 5. I was a consultant for almost nine years, and that really never existed for me,” she said.The woman spoke about the work messages she would get after her work hours. “To be really honest, I used to get messages from my manager at 7 pm asking why I hadn’t replied to an email yet. That wasn’t rare; that was normal,” she said. And the data backs her up. About 32 per cent of American employees work 45 or more hours per week, compared with 18 per cent in Germany and 4 per cent in France. Nearly 29 per cent of Americans also work at weekends, which is more than three times the rate among Spanish workers. So while the five-day, 40-hour week still exists, it’s just an aspiration many Americans never actually reach.
Overwork is a global work culture problem
Parinaya also shared that the assumption that overwork belongs to a particular country is misplaced, and that burnout is not an India-specific or America-specific problem. Hustle culture has gone global, and so the grind is real. “Overwork isn’t a country thing; it’s everywhere. Different jobs, different companies, same pressure to always be on,” she said.The woman further added that being the only brown person may have also accelerated this. “And being the only brown person on a lot of these calls, I did wonder sometimes if I was getting grilled a little harder than everyone else. I can’t prove it, but I felt it,” she said.Parinaya also emphasised that her views are about work culture and are not specific to one country. “Also, this isn’t about one country being worse, it’s about being honest that hustle culture doesn’t stop at any border.”Parinaya moved back to Mumbai seeking mental peace. After a decade of proving herself in a system that never stopped asking for more, she opted out. “Mental peace over anything,” she said.