Indian Woman Breaks Down After Being Denied WFH Request On Diwali: "Crying, Sobbing, Angry"

A woman working for an American multinational company recently took to Reddit to express her frustration after being denied time off on Diwali. In her post titled "Just angry-sobbed in a meeting", the woman highlighted how unfair workplace expectations can put employees, especially Indians, at a disadvantage in global firms. The woman shared that she works in a hybrid role at an American MNC, where she is expected to work from the office for a certain number of days, and can work from home the rest of the time. She said that she recently broke down into angry tears during a meeting with her manager after being told she was expected to work from the office during Diwali. 

"I understand at the end of the day we're just cheap labour for them, but god forbid, I believe we'd have some policies that treat us like humans," the original poster (OP) wrote. In her post, she shared that she had planned to work remotely from her hometown during Diwali but was denied the time off because her manager wanted someone to be physically present in the office. 

Just angry-sobbed in a meeting.
byu/curiousnerd06 inIndianWorkplace

The woman highlighted how American and European colleagues can take long vacations during spring break, Thanksgiving or Christmas, but Indians, on the other hand, are expected to work during their festivals. 

"We're all working Diwali week except 1-2 people will be off on different days so there's some support each day. Understandable. I was expecting to fly home and work from my hometown that week. Until I was told I can't go because someone needs to be in office," she wrote. 

"Believe me, we're still working on a week we deserve to be off. But now they want us in office. We've saved leaves and WFHs all year for this," the woman continued. 

She said that she got into a tearful argument with her senior manager when she was told to work from the office during Diwali, which falls on October 20 this year. "I had a crying, sobbing, angry argument with my senior manager and asserted I HAD TO GO HOME. It's the ONE time I get to," she wrote.

Eventually, the woman shared that a colleague from her hometown decided to cancel their travel plans to cover office presence, which allowed her to go home. "So technically this wasn't resolved, someone just sacrificed," she pointed out.

"Your company truly never cared, never will. Always knew this, but some days are truly frustrating," the woman concluded. 

Also Read | It's Illegal To Die In This Spanish Town. Here's The Bizarre Reason Why

The post sparked a wave of reactions, with many social media users sharing similar experiences. 

"It is not you, it is your managers. I am an Indian working in Germany. Our project has a small team in Pune, and the managers always keep proudly proclaiming in the meetings that their team is so dedicated that they can work on weekends and holidays as well," one user wrote. 

"Most Indian managers' flex is not optimal resource utilisation, execution or timely delivery. Rather, they would flex about all year, round-the-clock deployment of resources, which is a pointless exercise," commented another. 

"Well, that's pretty much how things work in Indian MNCs. I do empathise with you, but unfortunately, you won't find any respite here. Everything is 24/7 and #1 priority," wrote a third user.