“Anna was all the time a fighter, from childhood by her tutorial years, the place she excelled in all the pieces she did. She was a faculty topper, and a university topper, excelled in extracurricular actions, and handed her CA exams with distinction. She labored tirelessly at EY, giving her all to fulfill the calls for positioned on her,” she writes within the letter.
Including additional, she acknowledged “Burdening newcomers with such backbreaking work, making them work day and night time, even on Sundays, has no justification in any way. She had simply left her hometown and family members. Every thing was new to her—the group, the place, the language—and she or he was making an attempt very arduous to regulate. It’s best to present some consideration to new staff. As an alternative, the administration took full benefit of the truth that she was new and overwhelmed her with each assigned and unassigned work.”
Right here’s the total textual content of the letter
From, Anita Augustine, Mom of Late Ms. Anna Sebastian Perayil
To, Rajiv Memani, EY India Chairman
Pricey Rajiv,
I’m penning this letter as a grieving mom who has misplaced her valuable little one, Anna Sebastian Perayil. My coronary heart is heavy, and my soul is shattered as I pen these phrases, however I consider it’s essential to share our story within the hope that no different household should endure the ache we’re going by.
Anna handed her CA Exams in November’23 and joined EY Pune on March nineteenth, 2024, as an Govt. She was lively, desires, and pleasure for the longer term. EY was her first job, and she or he was thrilled to be a part of such a prestigious firm. However 4 months later, on July twentieth, 2024, my world collapsed once I acquired the devastating information that Anna had handed away. She was simply 26 years outdated.
Anna was all the time a fighter, from childhood by her tutorial years, the place she excelled in all the pieces she did. She was a faculty topper, and a university topper, excelled in extracurricular actions, and handed her CA exams with distinction. She labored tirelessly at EY, giving her all to fulfill the calls for positioned on her. Nevertheless, the workload, new surroundings, and lengthy hours took a toll on her bodily, emotionally, and mentally. She started experiencing nervousness, sleeplessness, and stress quickly after becoming a member of, however she stored pushing herself, believing that tough work and perseverance had been the keys to success.
On Saturday, July sixth, my husband and I reached Pune to attend Anna’s CA Convocation. Since she had been complaining of chest constriction upon reaching her PG late at night time (round 1 am) for the previous week, we took her to the hospital in Pune. Her ECG was regular, and the heart specialist got here to allay our fears, telling us she wasn’t getting sufficient sleep and was consuming very late. He prescribed antacids, which reassured us that it wasn’t something severe. Although we had come all the way in which from Kochi, she insisted on going to work after seeing the physician, saying there was loads of work to be executed and she or he would not get depart. That night time, she returned to her PG late once more. On Sunday, July seventh, the day of her convocation, she joined us within the morning, however she was working from dwelling even that day till the afternoon, and we reached the convocation venue late.
It was my daughter’s nice dream to take her mother and father to her convocation along with her personal hard-earned cash. She booked our flight tickets and took us. It breaks my coronary heart to inform you that even throughout these two days, which had been the final we’d spend with our little one, she could not get pleasure from them due to the work stress.
When Anna joined this particular workforce, she was advised that many staff had resigned because of the extreme workload, and the workforce supervisor advised to her, “Anna, you will need to stick round and
change everybody’s opinion about our workforce.” My little one did not understand she would pay for that along with her life.
Her supervisor would typically reschedule conferences throughout cricket matches and assign her work on the finish of the day, including to her stress. At an workplace occasion, a senior chief even joked that she would have a troublesome time working underneath her supervisor, which, sadly, turned a actuality she couldn’t escape.
Anna confided in us in regards to the overwhelming workload, particularly the extra duties assigned verbally, past the official work. I’d inform her to not tackle such duties, however the managers had been relentless. She labored late into the night time, even on weekends, with no alternative to catch her breath. Her assistant supervisor as soon as referred to as her at night time with a job that wanted to be accomplished by the subsequent morning, leaving her with barely any time to relaxation or recuperate. When she voiced her considerations, she was met with the dismissive response, “You may work at night time; that is what all of us do.”
Anna would return to her room completely exhausted, generally collapsing on the mattress with out even altering her garments, solely to be bombarded with messages asking for extra reviews. She was placing in her greatest efforts, working very arduous to fulfill the deadlines. She was a fighter to the core, not somebody to surrender simply. We advised her to stop, however she needed to be taught and achieve new publicity. Nevertheless, the overwhelming stress proved an excessive amount of even for her.
Anna would by no means have blamed her managers. She was too variety for that. However I can not stay silent. Burdening newcomers with such backbreaking work, making them work day and night time, even on Sundays, has no justification in any way. She had simply left her hometown and family members. Every thing was new to her—the group, the place, the language—and she or he was making an attempt very arduous to regulate. It’s best to present some consideration to new staff. As an alternative, the administration took full benefit of the truth that she was new and overwhelmed her with each assigned and unassigned work.
It is a systemic problem that goes past particular person managers or groups. The relentless calls for and the stress to fulfill unrealistic expectations should not sustainable, and so they price us the lifetime of a younger girl with no a lot potential.
Anna was a younger skilled, simply beginning her profession. Like many in her place, she didn’t have the expertise or the company to attract boundaries or push again in opposition to unreasonable calls for. She didn’t know the best way to say no. She was making an attempt to show herself in a brand new surroundings, and in doing so, she pushed herself past her limits. And now, she is now not with us.
I want I had been capable of shield her, to inform her that her well being and well-being mattered greater than the rest. However it’s too late for my Anna.
I’m writing to you now, Rajiv, as a result of I consider EY has a profound accountability to make sure the well-being of its staff. Anna’s expertise sheds mild on a piece tradition that appears to
glorify overwork whereas neglecting the very human beings behind the roles. This isn’t nearly my daughter; it is about each younger skilled who joins EY stuffed with hopes and desires, solely to be crushed underneath the burden of unrealistic expectations. I took the time to learn .EY’s human rights assertion. which bears your signature. I can not reconcile the values expressed in that assertion with the truth my daughter confronted. How can EY start to actually reside by the values it professes?
Anna’s dying ought to function a wake-up name for EY. It’s time to replicate on the work tradition inside your group and take significant steps to prioritize the well being and wellness of your staff. This implies creating an surroundings the place staff really feel protected to talk up, the place they’re supported in managing their workload, and the place their psychological and bodily well-being just isn’t sacrificed for the sake of productiveness.
Nobody from EY attended Anna’s funeral. This absence at such a important second, for an worker who gave her all to your group till her final breath, is deeply hurtful. Anna deserved higher, and so do all the workers who proceed to work underneath these circumstances. My coronary heart aches not only for the lack of my little one but in addition for the dearth of empathy proven by those that had been imagined to information and help her. After her funeral, I reached out to her managers, however I acquired no reply. How can an organization that speaks of values and human rights fail to indicate up for certainly one of its personal of their closing moments?
Turning into a Chartered Accountant includes years of toil, hardship, and sacrifice—not just for the coed but in addition for the mother and father. Years of my kid’s arduous work have been snuffed out by simply 4 months of EY’s callous perspective.
I hope this letter reaches you with the gravity it deserves. I do not know if anybody can actually perceive a mom’s feelings when she lays to relaxation her little one—the kid she held in her arms, watched develop, play, cry, and shared desires with—until they’ve skilled the identical ache.
I hope my kid’s expertise results in actual change in order that no different household has to endure the grief and trauma we’re going by. My Anna is now not with us, however her story can nonetheless make a distinction.
Sincerely, Anita Augustine.
