Pradeep Pankaj Singh has put some fuel on the work-life balance fire with a video in which he says in four years in Europe he has never put in more than 8. He holds that up to his 10 years in India, when you could be chided for walking out at 6 pm even if you had a long one of it.
Europe hours claim and overtime
In Poland, Singh says, there is a sense of order. “I have not had a single day over 8 hours unless I wanted to,” he says.
You won’t be asked by your manager to stick around past closing. And if you do, you are paid for it – properly. We’re talking 200%, or double your rate.
Then there is the matter of being reached after hours. It doesn’t happen often, and if you don’t answer, no one makes an issue of it. You can pick up if you like, but it’s seen as a courtesy, not something you are on the hook for.
How his India stint shaped the contrast
Before he made the move to Poland, Singh put in a decade in India. The IT world there, he remembers, was used to long days. You’d start at 8 or 9 and be in until 6, 7, or 8 in the evening.
He has a memory of putting in nearly 10 hours and still getting some side-eye for heading out at 6. It was an unspoken rule that made being on time feel like you were doing something wrong. The kind of pressure you felt was as much from your peers as your boss.
And the phone would ring well after you should have been off. Not so in Poland, where people seem to respect your personal time a bit more.
Guidance for candidates comparing cultures
Singh is only one person, but he is voicing the sort of thing every tech worker has to figure out: what are you really signing up for? When you are looking at roles in different parts of the world, make sure you are sizing up the whole picture in an interview, not just the benefits package.
Put some of those answers in writing. It’s a way to make a culture something concrete you can hold them to. Let the facts of the job, not where it is located, be your guide:
– What are the normal hours and what’s expected of you after they end?
– How is overtime handled and what does it pay?
– What is the line on post-work calls?
– See how the rest of the team handles leaving on time
– Get the expectations in the offer letter
It’s a good way to make a viral story into a to-do list and avoid any surprises down the road.
Reactions and caveats
People have had a lot to say about the video. “This is why you don’t want to come back once you’ve had a taste of a good work culture,” one said. Another put it bluntly: “In India, leaving on time is still a crime.”
For some, it’s a question of rights. "Work life balance should be a basic right, not a luxury” is a comment you will see, as is “it should be normal everywhere.”
We are going by what Singh has put out on Instagram. We haven’t been able to verify these numbers on our own.
What this means for your next move
Whether you are in India or looking to go abroad, the lesson from Singh is to be explicit. Set the terms for hours, overtime and who has the say in making a day longer before you get there. Find out how they measure you.
If you value your boundaries, find out what happens when you clock out. You can tell a lot from the reaction. A hiring process that is open about this is where you are most likely to have a good run of it.
