Ola has confirmed the death by suicide of one of its employees, following claims that first surfaced on Reddit two days ago.
In a widely circulated Reddit post, a colleague alleged that the employee took his own life due to “extreme work pressure.” The post claimed that the employee, a fresher working in Ola’s AI division, Krutrim, had been assigned the workload of three people and was unable to cope.
The employee if Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola had been struggling under the demands of the role, the widely-circulated post claimed.
Ola’s statement
Ola acknowledged the incident in a statement to HT.com and said the employee was on personal leave at the time it happened.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of one of our most talented young employees, *Anil, on the 8th of May. Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with his family, friends, and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time,” a spokesperson for Ola Krutrim told HT.com.
“*Anil was on personal leave at the time of the incident. He had reached out to his manager on the 8th of April, expressing that he needed rest, and was promptly granted personal time off. Later, on the 17th of April, he shared that he was feeling better but would benefit from additional rest, and his leave was extended accordingly.
“As a company, we are heartbroken by this loss. *Anil was a valued team member, and his absence will be deeply felt by all who knew and worked with him.
{{/usCountry}}“As a company, we are heartbroken by this loss. *Anil was a valued team member, and his absence will be deeply felt by all who knew and worked with him.
{{/usCountry}}“We are extending our full support to *Anil’s family and our employees during this time of grief. We are also in contact with the relevant authorities and will continue to offer our assistance as needed,” the spokesperson said.
*HT.com has changed the name of the employee for privacy reasons.
Claims of extreme work pressure
“Not sure why it's not a public issue yet, a colleague of mine just gave up on his life due to extreme work pressure. He used to work in Krutrim, and with 2 other guys leading a project (even after being a freshie). The other two guys left the company, so he was cramped up with work of the other two as well [sic],” the Reddit user wrote.
He went on to name a manager at Krutrim as responsible for creating a toxic work environment. The manager, based in the United States, has taken down his LinkedIn profile since the Reddit post emerged two days ago.
“Just traumatic”
“He [the manager] has no real clue how to manage people. He just attends the calls, bashes people left, right and center and disappears since he lives in US and most workforce is here in Bangalore,” the Ola employee claimed in his Reddit post.
He added that foul language is used in meetings as the manager vents his frustration on juniors.
“The words used in meetings, especially against freshers, it’s just traumatic,” the Reddit user claimed, adding: “Having not delivered a single product even after a year of joining Krutrim, he is just taking it all out on people.”
The aftermath
The post has led to massive backlash against Ola on social media, but the Reddit user claims that things for employees have not improved.
“Even after this shocking incident, there has been no behavioural change in people there. I heard other team members saying if they stay anymore here, they are going to end up doing the same,” he posted on Reddit.
In the comments section, the Ola employee further claimed that the manager in question emailed HR to fire his whole team after the incident.