Weekends are special: a time to recharge, hang with family, or just binge a show without deadlines looming. But in India’s high-pressure corporate world, that line often blurs.A new Reddit post has ignited a firestorm, with a fresh hire calling out weekend work demands and sparking debates on burnout, boundaries, and whether clients truly come before your life.
New joinee shines a limelight on working weekends at one of the Big 4 firms
A recent Reddit thread titled “Why have we glorified working on weekends?” went viral after a Big 4 employee shared his standoff with a manager. The new joiner described being told that weekend work was mandatory for a project to hit client deadlines. According to the post, the manager insisted, “client is important for us so you have to work on weekends,” citing past teams’ compliance.The employee fired back, mentioning his salary covered five days, and he needed weekends for personal time. “I said you can roll me off from this project,” he wrote, prompting an angry escalation to senior management. He vented frustration at a culture prioritising clients over lives, sarcastically adding, “why have we Indians glorified this weekend working? I mean jo bhi aise managers hain, why don’t you just put a picture of the client at your home and make your wife and kids pray to them every day.”
Social media reacts to the post
The post struck a chord, amassing thousands of upvotes and comments sharing and relating to similar struggles in Indian workplaces.One commenter wrote, “India is an employer’s market. There’s always someone willing to say yes. So it’s not about right or wrong. Managers push because they can… The only thing that changes it is people drawing a line.”Another user blamed poor planning, writing, “Don’t think we have glorified it, this mostly stems from senior management not planning properly and overcommitting deadlines. Now if we tell them that, we will probably be put in PIP.”
Another wrote, “Worked in an Indian workplace, now working in a Kiwi workplace. I can no longer work under an Indian manager anymore. Indians come to New Zealand and try to impose the same working culture here on their subordinates.”Many appreciated the pushback, “Bruh, tell me about it, stand your ground. This ends with our generation. We need a life and hobbies; no wonder Indians are always frustrated and have no personality outside of work and God.”
Gen Z’s call for balance
This isn’t isolated – Big 4 firms like Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG often face heat for 60+ hour weeks, especially during busy seasons. The Reddit saga shows Gen Z’s growing refusal to idolise hustle culture, demanding fair pay for promised hours. While managers defend client pressures, employees argue resources exist if planned right.