EY India employee’s death unleashes social media storm over ‘Big 4 culture’

A grieving mother’s letter to the head of Ernst & Young India blaming “excessive workload” for the death of her 26-year-old daughter has unleashed outrage online, with users flagging “toxic work culture” in offices, especially at the “Big Four”, referring to global accounting giants including Ernst & Young.
Anna Sebastian Perayil, a chartered accountant from Kochi, had joined Ernst & Young in Pune in March. Her health deteriorated quickly due to the “overwhelming workload”, her mother Anita Augustine wrote in a now-viral letter to EY India head Rajiv Memani.
In the heartbreaking letter, Augustine wrote that Anna worked “tirelessly” at EY, “giving her all to meet the demands placed on her” but her managers were “relentless”. The long, excruciating hours eventually took a toll, she wrote.
“My child didn’t realise she would pay for that with her life,” she said of her daughter.
Following outrage over Augustine’s letter, EY India released a statement expressing condolences over Anna’s death, and assured the company would work towards providing a healthy workplace.
“We place the highest importance on the well-being of all employees and will continue to find ways to improve and provide a healthy workplace for our 100,000 people across EY member firms in India,” the statement read.
The letter, which has garnered over 2 million views on X, triggered thousands of angry reactions over the young woman’s harrowing experience. Several users called out the company after Anna’s mother also wrote that “nobody from EY even attended her funeral”.
Author Nandita Iyer said, “Heart goes out to the mother and family of Anna who lost a loved one so young. Shame on her employers who didn’t even have the decency to show up for her funeral. Never give up your health and life for corporates/mercenaries.”
The spotlight was primarily on the “work culture” at Big 4.
Anna’s death also triggered a discussion around the perils of hustle culture and “toxic workplaces”.
“This is so heartbreaking. Work culture in India is horrid. Pay is dismal, exploitation is max. There are zero repercussions and no remorse on the part of employers who routinely harass workers. Worst part? Overworking and underpaying are lauded,” a user said.
Sample these comments:
Singer Paushali Sahu, who used to work for over 14 hours in a day at one point of time, said that the “long term effects of those years still linger deep within me.”
Ashutosh Mishra, who is also a chartered accountant, shared his opinion on EY India.
“Horrendous” is the word that a man used to describe the current work culture in India. Employees have to work even after office, and there is no respite on weekends, he said, adding, “Those who don’t work after office are made to feel they are without work and are enjoying life.” The worst part, he said, is: “To top it all employees are made to feel if they don’t slog there are hundreds waiting in line who will replace them in 24 hrs.”
In short, most of the social media users reiterated that there is nothing called work life balance anymore.
Read Anita Augustine’s letter here:
After Anna Sebastian Perayil’s death, experts have been stressing the importance of work-life balance, while criticising the toxicity of ‘hustle culture’ in India.