EY's ex-employees open up about 'toxic work culture' as Anna's 'tragic death' takes country by storm

The sudden and tragic demise of Ernst & Young's (EY) employee Anna Sebastian Perayil, 26, has taken the country by storm and has ignited a debate on the toxic work culture prevalent at some top consulting firms.

The debate started after the heart-wrenching letter of 26-year-old's mother Anita Augustine went viral, in which she blamed Ernst & Young's toxic work culture for her daughter's death.

Anna had joined the audit and assurance team of the company in Pune in March of this year and died after four months allegedly because of extreme work stress.

EY's former employees speak about the work culture in the company

Now, a former Ernst & Young (EY) employee took to LinkedIn to speak about her harrowing experience with the company.

Also Read:EY India chairman's email on Anna's death with 'do not forward' directive gets leaked. Here's what he said...

The woman, who is currently a freelance content writer, said, “Six years back I got my first offer letter from EY It was a dream for me to get placed (off campus ) in a Big4 immediately after graduating. I was excited to move to Bengaluru for work; as a girl who wasn’t away from her home, not even once, everything seemed to be a dream come true moment, but within a few months, I realised I was in a toxic work environment, which took a toll on my food, sleep and mental health.”

“When I took the decision to quit EY, I was heavily criticised and was called immature, homesick, even lazy and incapable of keeping up with the demands of the corporate work environment. It was a tough decision, but it was necessary for my health that day,” she added.

More such stories emerged as people wrote long posts on LinkedIn to speak about their working experience with EY.

Speaking about his wife who once worked with EY, one LinkedIn user said, "My wife quit EY just because of the toxic work culture and if she had not quit, I don’t know what would have happened to her. 18 hours workday is normalised, glorified and expected out of employees by many big MNCs in India. The irony is, these same MNCs would not do that outside India. Indians are being seen as donkeys to offload work to and India is seen as a huge factory willing to operate 24x7x365."

"My wife and I got married in 2021, an event that naturally requires time off work. Shockingly, two days before our wedding, my then-fiancée received a call from her manager at 10 PM regarding a timesheet. The following day, despite having approved leave, she was asked to conduct an urgent knowledge transfer session," wrote another user whose wife faced a similar situation.

However, reacting to the mother'sletter,EY in a statement said,"Anna was a part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global, in Pune for a brief period of four months, joining the firm on 18 March 2024. That her promising career was cut short in this tragic manner is an irreparable loss for all of us."

Also Read:EY under fire after 26-year-old employee dies tragically due to 'work stress'

The company added, "While no measure can compensate for the loss experienced by the family, we have provided all the assistance as we always do in such times of distress and will continue to do so."

"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 1,00,000 people across EY member firms in India," the company further stated.