‘Kaam toh yahi karna hai na’: Woman shares how Europe trip invited workplace ‘taunts’

A Reddit user shared that she experienced passive-aggressive behaviour from colleagues upon returning from her Europe trip, stating that their comments left her feeling “drained and depressed”. “I land back in India. I go to the office, feeling refreshed, smiling and instantly, the HR gives me that look. ‘Aaj toh madam Europe se time mil gaya?’ Another colleague chimes in: ‘Bas ghoom lo, kaam toh yahi karna hai na.’ All in that taunting, passive-aggressive tone we’ve mastered here,” the woman wrote.

She mentioned that she came back to find 248 emails, countless Teams messages, and client meetings scheduled without her knowledge. “And the worst part? We glorify this. We wear burnout like a badge of honour. We think rest = laziness. If you take time off, you’re ‘not serious about your career’,” she continued.

The employee added that the entire experience made her feel “drained, disconnected, and low-key depressed”.

Here’s how netizens reacted:

“I am also on one of those teams wherein they chant ‘work is prayer’ slogans. I can totally relate to you. There are a lot of people I know working in the EU, and they mention the relaxed attitude and respect towards employees’ culture. I feel sad, but can’t do anything, cause for 90% of roles, if you resent/rebel against such a toxic environment and work culture, there are thousands who will replace you tomorrow, especially in the current market,” posted an individual.

Another remarked, “The West has good work-life balance because all the grunt work which requires you to be in office and pull longer hours is outsourced to other developing countries. They work 9 hours because someone else is working for 12 hours in some other country. Almost every medium and large-scale organisation in Europe and the US outsources its work to countries like India. They have all the strategic and top tier roles which allow good work-life balance.”

A third shared, “This is because Europe is a rich place, and if a country is rich, it takes good care of its citizens. India is a poor country, and all we have to offer to the world is our cheap labour, which is, believe me, heavily exploited here.”

A fourth wrote, “The problem is that the same European people take us for granted and make us work extra hours while travelling daily in worse conditions.”