Indian woman in London refuses to work from office over high commuting cost: 'Won't budge..'.'

A 25-year-oldIndian woman living in London has refused to work from the office five days a week, citing high travelling costs and "stagnating salaries for Gen Z employees." In a LinkedIn post that has gone viral, the woman says the cost of living is too high while the salaries do not increase accordingly, and is not ready to waste her money on commuting. She further complained that Gen Z does not get enough opportunities to climb the corporate ladder as the seniors refuse to leave their positions.

“I won’t be working 5 or 4 days in the office. PERIOD,” she wrote on LinkedIn.

“I’m 25, in a so-called ‘good’ career, living in London, and still clawing my way out of my bills every month. I’ll probably never own a home,” she added.

The debate over returning to office full-time has escalated across companies and countries in the past few months. Mandates have been issued by employers asking the staff to return to the office full-time. The remote working set-ups became common due to the pandemic in 2020, but soon became the new normal for many people. 

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The Indian woman says that with the high cost of living in London, she has been struggling to pay her bills despite having a "so-called ‘good’ career". 

The woman said that after spending money on London's expensive commute, she sits in the office only to "attend video calls she could have attended from home".

No career progress for Gen Z, claims woman

She further said that reaching a good position is a distant dream as most people who are in top positions “won’t budge until they retire.”

“Climbing the corporate ladder? Not exactly a dream when the jobs at the top are held by people who won’t budge until they retire. And for what? Working harder for marginally better pay that still won’t keep up with the cost of living?” she asked.

She went on a rant about Gen Z supposedly being at a disadvantage when it comes to salaries. “We’re expected to survive on salaries from 5 to 10 years ago while paying 5 to 10 times the cost of living."

The woman claims that the "older generations" got some sort of perks and now have "houses, savings, and vacations", and showed displeasure about treatment meted out to Gen Z who are "the ones being told we need to ‘show up’ more."