A few months ago, I read about a young girl who had just started her first job at a prestigious consultancy. Four months in, she collapsed and died. Her mother said she had been working through the nights, skipping weekends, ignoring chest pains, and suffering from anxiety. She had asked for help but no one really listened.
Just a few days ago, there was news of a 25-year-old machine learning engineer who was part of the AI division of a well-known electric vehicle company. He was found dead near a city lake. His colleagues said he was handling the workload of three people. He had requested time off. It was granted—and even extended when he asked for more time. Yet, somewhere along the way, the seriousness of his situation was either missed or misunderstood. He was technically on leave when he died by suicide.
Different places, different industries but the same tragic ending.
And these are not isolated incidents. In 2022, a 23-year-old techie from Hyderabad died by suicide, leaving behind a note that spoke of unbearable pressure. Around the same time, a young associate at a legal firm reportedly collapsed from a cardiac arrest after an 18-hour workday. A few years ago, a 27-year-old advertising professional in Mumbai took her own life, citing a toxic work environment in her farewell note.
We cannot keep pretending these are one-off cases. They are not. They are signals, flashing red and telling us that something is fundamentally broken. These are not stories of individual weakness. They are stories of a system that rewards exhaustion, silence and self-neglect.
We have built a culture where people feel guilty if they feel an urge to slow down; where being available at all hours is worn like a badge of honour; where saying “I am not okay” is seen as a weakness, not a warning sign; where we speak of mental health only when it is trending. This is a culture where ‘people first’ is just a tagline, not the truth.
The problem is not limited to one company or one sector. This is a leadership problem. A cultural rot! And frankly, a human tragedy unfolding quietly across boardrooms and office chairs. If someone dies trying to meet expectations, then it is the expectations that must be questioned and not the individual.
The hard truth is that many leaders are more comfortable talking about innovation than empathy. They know how to chase market share but not how to check in on someone’s well-being. And the real question is how many more warning signs will we ignore before we start taking responsibility?
Creating a happier, healthier workplace is not just a nice thing to do. It is the right thing to do. And it is urgent. Not because it will reduce attrition or boost productivity, although it will, but because it may save someone’s life.
Therefore, before we chase the next milestone, maybe it is time to ask the basics. Are our people okay? Do they feel safe? Heard? Valued? And most importantly, do they feel human?
The Author is the founder and managing director of House of Cheer, the company behind Happiest Places to Work®, a pioneering and purpose-driven certification fast becoming the gold standard for recognising organisations where employees truly feel happy, valued and involved.
