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Techie compares work-life balance in India vs Sweden: ‘Slept in Gurgaon office’
An Indian techie in Sweden has compared work culture in the two countries, suggesting that the European nation scores higher at employee wellbeing.
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An Indian techie in Sweden has compared work culture in the two countries, suggesting that the European nation scores higher when it comes to employee wellbeing. Ankur Tyagi said that moving to Sweden introduced him to a very different way of life where employers trusted their employees to do the right thing and understood that a balanced life leads to better productivity.
In India, on the other hand, hard work and hustle culture are glorified to the extent where working overtime is normalised and “grinding late hours is worn like a badge of honour.”
Work-life balance in India
Ankur Tyagi, a graduate of Lucknow’s Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University, moved to Sweden in 2021. Before that, he spent several years working as a software engineer in India.
Tyagi opened up about his experience of working in India in an X post. He was responding to a controversial tweet from a lawyer who ranted against her junior’s decision to log in late after working overtime the previous day.
The Sweden-based techie gave several examples of the way hustle culture is glorified in India. He revealed that he had a manager who never left the office before 10 pm and always showed up at 9 am sharp the next morning.
In India, said Tyagi, last-minute product deployment is never considered a problem because “client is God.” He added that he had team members who even slept in their Gurgaon offices.
The techie also gave a reason behind this glorification of overwork, saying India has so many techies that if you refuse to one thing, the company can always hire another person to do it, replacing you without a problem.
“In India we’re so many people in tech hence so tough competition. If you don’t do it — there are 10,000 people in line so most of us don’t have choice,” he said.
“Hustle culture was so ingrained that I barely questioned it — sacrificing personal time and family moments without a second thought,” the techie said.
Life in Sweden
Ankur Tyagi said that moving to Sweden opened up a “whole new world” where people worked regular hours and prioritised work-life balance.
“Here, people simply drop a Slack message to adjust their hours, and no one doubts their commitment,” he revealed.
Now an independent consultant helping tech companies, Tyagi said that Swedish organisations operate on mutual trust and respect boundaries. “[There is] an understanding that a balanced life leads to better work,” he said.
“It’s the kind of balance I never thought I could ask for,” Tyagi wrote on X, adding that in India, he had accepted that zero work-life balance is the price he would have to pay for career growth.
He concluded his post with a word of appreciation for Indian Gen Z employees who are pushing back against this culture of toxic workplaces that normalise working overtime.
