'Encouraged to work 24*7 in India': IT employee gets culture shock in Germany, netizens react

He answered an email on a Saturday. In India, that shows dedication but in Germany, it was equal to sacrilege. The country did not care about how many all-nighters he'd pulled, but about the fact that he worked when he was not supposed to.

Sharing the anecdote on X, Partner and Vice President at Complete Circle Capital, Aditya Kondawar said that this came as a cultural shock to the techie.

"Met an IT professional, he was working in India before. The managers encouraged him to work 24*7 and on weekends too. Now he is in Germany, he replied to an email on a weekend," Kondawar wrote on X. 

He added that the work culture in the same company varies dramatically, depending on the geography you are posted in.

"His manager pulled him up and scolded him for replying to a work email on a weekend. He says work cultures in the same company but different geographies is poles apart!" 

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Soon after the post went viral, netizens were quick to appreciate the focus on work-life balance in European corporate culture. 

A user wrote, "This is my fav cultural shock. Lot of Indian lost it when they get to know - they don't have to work after 6pm and over weekends. Whole their life they worked for 12hrs/day easily and suddenly only 7.5-8hrs/day is enough! A lot of folks love it but then comes a few people who became an economy experts - this is the reason the country is not growing."

"And they accomplish just as much in those fewer hours. Longer hours are rarely a sign of productivity, they mostly show inefficiency," a second user said. 

Another user commented, "Sometimes it's not the company that changes. It's the power employees have in that country." 

A fourth user wrote, "The people who go onsite too says the same thing. Even if their savings is less there, they stay only for one reason work life balance. It's not always money, sometimes it's peace too. It is strictly 9-5 or 9-6."