Bengaluru Woman Questions India's Work Culture After US Visit: "At 4:30 pm, The Office Was Empty"

An Instagram video by a Bengaluru-based professional has sparked an online debate about work culture in India and the United States, with many users discussing long office hours, burnout, and work-life balance. In the video, the woman described how different her routine felt during a recent work trip to the US. She said the experience made her realise how deeply late working hours and constant availability have become normalised in many Indian workplaces.

According to her, she reached the US office around 9:30 or 10 am and was surprised to see the entire floor empty by 4:30 pm. By 5 pm, most employees had already left for the day, something she said created a sense of peer pressure for her to leave as well.

She explained that, for the first time in a long while, she had free time after work and was able to go for a hike and watch the sunset. The experience, she said, made her reflect on how little personal time she usually has while working in India.

Comparing the two work environments, she noted that her typical office day in India starts around 9 am and often stretches until 10 pm because of back-to-back meetings. She added that finding time for basic activities such as cooking dinner or taking a walk becomes difficult under such schedules.

"Is this just me, or is the corporate environment really becoming hard now in India?" she wrote in the caption of the video. 

The video quickly gained traction online, with many users saying they related to her experience. Several users pointed out that staying late at work is often viewed as a sign of commitment and productivity in Indian companies, even when it comes at the cost of personal well-being.

Others described the culture as one driven by excessive pressure and long hours, contrasting it with what they saw as a more results-oriented and balanced approach in many US workplaces. 

One user wrote, "The problem is not work, the problem is the mindset that more hours mean more productivity." 

Another commented, "True, but they mostly come early around 7 AM and are more productive thru the day."

However, not everyone was on board. A third user added, "This comparison itself is screwed. Most of the indian IT companies get the work from the US. If there is any meeting with the US counterpart then there are more chances the individual has to extend his evening time or the US counterpart has to log in early at 5 am. And this is never going to happen. Please stop doing this type of comparison. I myself work in prague and we work for a US based company and we extend our work till 7pm. Some one has to accommodate that extra hours. The day india is self reliant and we are working for indian products or indian technology. That day we would be behaving the same way the other western counter part does that."