Manager Is Worse Than Described In Mother's Letter: Claims Anna's EY Colleague, Reveals More

As the discussion continues on social media regarding the toxic work environment, a new letter allegedly written by one of Anna’s colleagues, who also works at EY's Pune office, has emerged online

The EY employee said that the senior folks do not care about the junior employees; they only care about the work getting done on time

Source : Pexels

The devastating incident death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old Chartered Accountant from Kerala working at EY’s Pune office, reportedly due to work pressure, has shocked the nation to its core. This incident has reignited debate about toxic work culture and the challenges of maintaining a work-life balance, particularly for young professionals.

As the discussion continues on social media regarding the toxic work environment some employees face in their careers and how companies should take note and work towards eliminating it, a new letter allegedly written by one of Anna’s colleagues, who also works at EY's Pune office, has emerged online on Reddit.

The letter reads, “The death of Anna was informed via a centralised mail in which they attached her linkedin picture with some standard short message like RIP. News was put in the grapevine that she was already suffering from a health condition which got worse.”

“Her assistant manager, she's atrocious. Basically what the asst manager does is distribute work to the team and follow up from each one. Ensure no one is stress free, no one is taking time off. Basically they highlight their potential by getting work done from lesser people (like work of 5/6 resources from 2 resources) in order to get promoted. It is said in common language that you can trust and deal with a drunken man out of his mind, but not an AM. Every AM is the embodiment of this statement,” the letter added.

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In the letter, Anna’s colleague describes how work culture works at EY and how it affects employees in different ways.

Her colleague in the letter said, “Though I haven't worked directly with her, I've worked with her manager, who is worse than how it's portrayed in the letter. He actually prioritises his convenience (like cricket) and he doesn't really care for anyone's time or effort. He proudly bought IPL final tickets in deadline at exorbitant prices and showed off on insta. He takes all the credit himself, and blames the team for any shortfalls (classic manager behaviour). Boasts all day everyday. When he reviews your work, his focus is not on the correctness of work, he points out as many mistakes as he could, depicting how smart he is, and in other words how dumb you are.”

Her co-worker further states, “I have been working in EY for quite some time now, and I have seen people come and go. People who come here (generally) are very hardworking people who have thirst for learning and they are ready to work day and night. Australian timings, European timings, US timings, you name it. Seasoned people exploit these newcomers like anything. And these senior people have power. Good deal of power. They can make your life a living hell if you don't co-operate with them. Try reporting to HR, then you'll get to know he's part of this structure too.”

“They have the audacity to use profane language in reviews. Newly qualified CAs and articles come all the way from their states like Kashmir, Punjab, TN, sacrificing everything just to learn and get good exposure. But it's a bloodbath. All these people are school toppers of their time. It seems apparent that years of mind numbing toil wasn't enough. They're humiliated to an extent where they lose their respect in their own eyes. Humiliation in the team calls is quite normal here. And these newcomers are from small families who teach them to respect elders and not react to any unreasonable behaviour, not to say NO to any work, give your heart and soul to the work you do,” the letter reads.

“Everyone of us went through this thinking maybe something is wrong with me, if everyone is able to handle this pressure I should handle it too. Female employees may get some leniency but for our male colleagues it's absolutely brutal. Everyone is tortured to hell. No social life, no personal time, no time to attend even phone calls. Most of the newcomers including articles quit, some endure the trouble for some years and then quit, remaining become managers and become trouble for others,” it states.

The EY employee said that the senior folks do not care about the junior employees; they only care about the work getting done on time. “Top level people (Partners) don't care about sh*t. You don't even get to interact with partners until you're at least an asst manager. They don't give a f**k about any employee, they just care about getting work done. Even if you go through boiling hell and get the work done, you won't get any acknowledgement from anyone forget about appreciation. One of my colleagues was hospitalised suffering from Dengue, and these people made him make workpapers from his hospital bed. Good for him he quit then and there. When I say these people are inhuman, they literally are. People leaving EY are usually very happy, and their colleagues congratulate them like they are being released from prison,” the employee said.

“It's my request to all my colleagues reading this message - please reevaluate your priorities, see what you're really doing to yourself. And to CAs and articles who dream to work in such an organisation – be very careful of what you wish for. Anna's death has impacted us all. And such letter from Augustine is a conclusive evidence that "already suffering from health issues" was an deliberately created rumour. Hope the effort behind this letter doesn't go in vain,” the letter reads.