A Reddit post from a Bengaluru-based corporate employee announcing their decision to quit has sparked debate about urban work culture in India. The post, titled “I Quit Corporate”, highlights burnout, poor work-life balance, and challenges posed by Bengaluru’s infrastructure and cost of living.
Citing burnout and declining health, the user revealed, “There’s no work-life balance, physical and mental health is a joke, the city’s cooked with traffic, no proper infra, there’s no way to save and invest thanks to inflation and taxes.”
The user expressed dissatisfaction with the city’s infrastructure: “I learnt Kannada, well I understand 85% and talk 65%, this took me 1.6 years to achieve, I like Donne biriyani more than Hyderabadi, but the city is choking.”
Reflecting on urban concentration of businesses, the user stated, “I feel like there are a lot more cities with good infra where companies can divide, unlike targeting one city, which results in real estate inflation.”
The employee also mentioned the decision to pursue entrepreneurship, although they admitted, “I’ve decided to quit and start my entrepreneurship career (not figured yet).”
I Quit Corporate. byu/stormbreAKer-47 inindia
The post resonates with many, prompting others to share similar experiences of stress and long commutes. Social media reactions were mixed, with some warning that entrepreneurship could pose even greater challenges.
Others questioned whether the user had enough experience in the corporate world to make such a judgment.
“If you think, by starting your venture, you will have work life balance, then you are in for a hell of surprise,” a user wrote.
“Entrepreurship will be 100x times more tougher. Each and every responsibility will fall on you. It’s 24×7 job with very little success rate. I ain’t scaring you but you know the scene of Bangalore and startup culture in India. Think hard before quitting/investing money in something… I am also 2 years in corporate and one thing I have realised life is far easier for an employee at junior/associate level than being senior/manager level. Work might be lot more at lower level but as we go up responsibilities increase multifold and that’s harder than anything,” a second user commented.
“Yawn. Going back to family business is not something most people can fall back on. Not to mention 2 years across orgs, clearly you were not ready for a career on your own. And for anyone reading this, please be careful about following this advise unless you have a family to fall back on like OP,” a third user wrote.
A fourth user said: “If you worked for 3 companies who are known for their missing work-life balance in 2 years, that’s on you.”