‘I won’t work 5 days in the office’: Indian employee refuses to ‘drain income’ on London commute
A 25-year-old from India, living in London, refuses to work in the office five days a week due to stagnating salaries and high living costs.
An Indian woman, living in London, has refused point-blank to work from office five days a week. At a time when the return-to-office conversation is a sore point among remote work-loving employees, one professional has said she will not “drain” her income on London’s expensive commute.
The Indian woman took to LinkedIn three days ago to share her views on RTO, the rising cost of living, and stagnating salaries for Gen Z employees.
On return to office
“I won’t be working 5 or 4 days in the office. PERIOD,” the 25-year-old wrote on LinkedIn. She blamed high cost of living for her refusal to work from office.
She said that despite having a good job, she still struggled to pay her bills every month.
“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,” the India-born employee wrote.
She said that career progress is a distant dream when all the top positions are held by people who “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.
Stagnating salaries
While refusing to work from office five days a week, the employee also made a point about stagnating salaries. According to her, Gen Z got the short end of the stick when it comes to corporate perks and salaries.
“We’re expected to survive on salaries from 5 to 10 years ago while paying 5 to 10 times the cost of living,” she wrote on LinkedIn. “Meanwhile, the older generations have their houses, savings, and vacations—yet we’re the ones being told we need to ‘show up’ more.”
She questioned why she should be expected to spend a huge chunk of her already-taxed income on London’s expensive commute, only to sit in office and attend video calls that she could have attended from home too.
On the perks that older generations got to enjoy, she wrote: “Early Millennials, Gen X and boomers at some point in their careers got free lunches, reimbursed travel, travelling to new places for work, bonuses, stock options and actual face-to-face meetings with clients over coffee. Now? A slice of lukewarm pizza and a beer after work if you’re lucky.”
In conclusion, the MBA graduate said that Gen Z employees prioritise flexibility, health, and “not draining a third if not more of our income just to be physically present at a desk.”
