Workplace-related deaths have suddenly snowballed into horrifying headlines.

Social media is convulsed with rage and disbelief after a young chartered accountant at Ernst & Young’s Pune office died in July because of a monster boss who was never restrained from “normalising” a toxic culture at the workplace.

The story of Anna Sebastian Perayil — a 26-year-old chartered accountant from Kerala — would never have come out had her mother, Anita Augustine, not penned a poignant note to EY India’s chairman Rajeev Memani recently. In it, she spoke of how her daughter died because of a “backbreaking workload” that had left her physically, emotionally and mentally drained every day.

Anna died in July, just four months after she got a shot at her dream job. Anita wrote to Memani how anguished she was that no one from the organisation had cared to attend her daughter’s funeral after she died in a Pune hospital of complications arising from extreme exhaustion.

The collective apathy towards the death of an employee has rankled with everyone and triggered an outpouring of vitriol on social media.

In a post on LinkedIn, Memani was contrite, expressing the deepest regret for failing to attend the young employee’s funeral.

“I truly regret the fact that we missed being present at Anna’s funeral. This is completely alien to our culture. It has never happened before; it will never happen again,” Memani said.

“I am absolutely committed to nurturing a harmonious workplace, and I will not rest until that objective is accomplished,” Memani said.

“I have conveyed my deepest condolences to the family, although nothing can fill the void in their lives.”

In a separate statement, EY said: “We are taking the family’s correspondence with the utmost seriousness and humility.”

“Real change, not condolences, is what’s needed,” riposted Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises, suggesting a number of ways to tackle the crisis.

“End the glorification of overwork; reward efficiency, not long hours,” Goenka said, a view that will resonate with the young executives who are struggling to find a work-life balance in the rough and tumble of the corporate world.

The government, scrambling to deal with a snowballing situation, has ordered an investigation into the work environment at EY.

“A thorough investigation into the allegations of an unsafe and exploitative work environment is underway,” Union labour minister Shobha Karandlaje posted on X.

“This incident has come to light recently. Her (the deceased employee’s) mother has written a letter. Our labour department is looking into it. A status report may come out in the next two-three days,” said Arjun Ram Meghwal, minister of state for law and justice, at an event organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce in Calcutta on Friday.

Industry mavens continue to insist that Anna’s case is a localised incident and the situation isn’t as bad as many EY baiters are making it out to be.

Sources from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) said 15 to 16-hour work schedules might be a reality during certain times in the year, especially before income tax audits are filed. But they said the work-related stress abated during the rest of the year at most CA firms.

“Excessive work hours is a labour issue; the concerned ministry looks into these issues,” an ICAI member said.

However, Anna’s father Sibi Joseph said the family had not circulated the private letter they had written to Memani, suggesting that someone from EY’s Pune office had leaked it, possibly to draw attention also to the others struggling to cope with the stress of a crushing workload.

A former EY employee shared his ordeal on X. “Not a one-off incident. Being an ex-EY employee, I have seen many such instances. EY has been a controversial employer, well known for workplace toxicity.

“Sharing the latest experience of my colleague Urmi from EY Bangalore, who had to go through (an) incredibly tough time of harassment during her pregnancy all because of some project utilisation, and then how EY wanted to desperately force her out without any remorse.”

Others complained about the tough work environment at other Big Four outfits. Jayesh Jain said on X that he had resigned from Deloitte because of the way he was drowning in work.

“We used to work for around 20 hours and they wouldn’t even let us charge more than 15 hours. I can totally understand what Anna would have gone through. Always remember you are just an employee number for them. But for your family youare everything. Corporate life is tough. Glad that I was able to get out from there in time,” he said.

“I am surprised that they are letting you charge 15 hrs,” said an X user called Rikky in response to Jain’s post. “At KPMG, we work 16 hrs during season, stretching to 6 months. And we are not allowed to charge more than 8 hrs. And if we charge even 1 hr less than 8 hrs any day, we are asked to give reasons for the same.”

Some reckon that the reality of punishing work schedules is slowly creeping into other areas of industry.

“Everyone is suddenly talking about the toxic work culture at EY India, as if other offices are taking their employees to vacations every other weekend…. How many deaths will it take to realise that we have a problem when employees do not get to turn off from work,” said social media user Kavya on X.

The answer, my friend, is still blowing in the wind.