‘Fight Back Work Pressure; Focus on Personal Growth & Savings’

Himanshu Kohli, a techie employed with the IT sector, offers some advice to handle the hardships and toxic work culture in MNCs. His tips:

Many employees working in private organizations and MNCs often talk about their work pressure, tough deadlines and office stress. A lot of my friends across the industry frequently complain about keeping long hours, not just on weekdays but also on weekends. They confide how they feel choked under a toxic 24x7x365 hustle work culture.

An assignment that would take a few months to complete has to be completed in a month, a task that would take a few weeks has to be completed in one week, and work that should be done in a span of a few days should be over in a day and that of a day in a few hours. You get the drift? That is how it works in IT industry. The pressure is so immense that it takes a toll on people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

And yet, employees go on slogging because they have several obligations to fulfill; these could be repaying home loan or car EMIs or maintaining a certain lifestyle. The fear of not having a job and not being able to pay their EMI on time is horrifying. A lot of managers too want promotions/benefits and take undue advantage of this situation by redirecting more work to their subordinates to make matters worse.

And there is no scope of pushing back and tell your manager: NO. Employees hesitate in talking back to the manager. What if he humiliates me in front of other team members? Or what if the manager wouldn’t give me a good rating. In any case, job opportunities are few and far between. Societal pressure adds to this stress. Being educated and not having a job is looked down upon.

Nevertheless, a positive mindset can help one tide over these choppy waters. I feel that instead of getting bogged down and breaking under pressure, one needs to focus more on personal learnings, give more time to equip oneself with market essential skills and be self-trained. One can always look for better opportunities on the sidelines.

ALSO READ: ‘If Your Job Is Giving You Mental Stress, Dump It’

I must share that all of my friends who got terminated in the last few years were able to land a next job within a few months and they are in a much better place with better salaries. Ruining one’s health or ending life – such as in the case of E&Y employee recently – is really not the solution.

As adults, we need to create a proper work-life balance, take time out for hobbies, go out with our friends and family, keep our professional life separate from our personal life, take proper seven to eight hours of sleep, eat right and indulge in some sports activity… basically live one’s life rather than working like a machine.

There are so many things to do beyond your office. Hit a gym, pick up books on time management, hone you work skills and start investing in various money-saving banking instruments. When you see your money grow, it boosts your confidence. I have friends who have taken retirement from their job as they have enough corpus now and they gradually built a regular SIP (systematic investment plan).

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As told to Deepa Gupta