Indian Techie Exposes Toxic Work Culture in India vs Sweden: A Comparison of Work-Life Balance

Ankur Tyagi, an Indian techie living in Sweden, recently shared a stark contrast prevailing between work-life balance in India and Sweden. Ankur shared his work experiences in Sweden and India on X to give some clarity about "hustle culture" glorification in India as against the healthy work-life balance in Sweden.

Tyagi, who has shifted to Sweden this year after working in India's tech industry, said that when employees are made to work late hours for overwork in India, they regularly take it in stride, and are easily found working late till night. He even revealed that he had some colleagues who had slept in their office to meet the tight deadlines in Gurgaon, an unmistakable indication of the toxic overtime culture that thrives in India's competitive work environment.

The glorification of "grinding" late into the night is a part of India's hustle culture whereby many workers feel the need to sacrifice personal time to stay ahead in the competitive job market. Indeed, according to Tyagi, "In India, there are thousands of techies ready to take your place, so saying no to overtime often feels impossible." Last-minute deployments and extended working hours were never considered an issue in his experience because "client is God.".

However, Tyagi's move to Sweden brought an entirely different working culture. He said that the work culture in Sweden is based upon trust. The employer had enough respect for the personal boundaries of employees. There exists no questioning of any employee's commitment towards the job. Employees simply adjust their hours with a simple Slack message. According to Tyagi, this mutual trust leads to greater productivity and overall wellbeing in employees.

Now, Tyagi is an independent consultant for the tech companies. He feels that Sweden focuses on balanced living. He elaborated the fact that in India, he had taken it as a norm, where zero work-life balance is the price of career growth. However, he found Sweden to be the place, where a healthy work-life balance is not only possible but crucial for long-term success.

Tyagi was particularly impressed by the new generation of Indian workers, particularly the Gen Zers who are increasingly ready to challenge the toxic culture of overwork. He believes that this change might finally be leading India to be more sustainable in terms of work environments.

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