“Since you do not have much work right now (during demonetization period), your work is to currently come to the office and then go to the ATM closest to our office, and withdraw Rs 2,000 notes for me at 9:30 in the morning. Then you go again in the afternoon, and again withdraw a couple of thousand for me through a different card. You use your card. It is your official duty. You have to do it. When I am in at 10:30, that 2,000 rupees should be on your desk,” shares Ankita Mishra who was working with a national broadcaster back then and was in the backend team. She recounts an incident about an unfair performance improvement plan (PIP).
“I was barely 20-21 then and didn’t want to pick a fight with someone. One day I went to the CEO and complained. What happened was they put me in a PIP, saying, ‘You have an attitude problem. You are not a team player. You don’t know how to speak to managers. This is not collaborative behavior,'” Mishra shares further.
Tina Gurnaney, lead PR, ONDC who is also a former journalist, shares her story about the overwork, anxiety, and lack of recognition in the media. “My sole reason for quitting journalism was toxicity. I was so overworked that my seniors didn’t take the pressure of filing stories and kept me at the desk while they took all the good opportunities themselves.”
“There was someone who had decided this girl has been working hard, so let’s give her an award, someone from the top management canceled that award at the very last minute, so that my male bosses didn’t feel bad about it. They then instead ended up giving the award to the entire team. I did not have weekends, any public holidays, for almost 4 years. I constantly struggled, I wasn’t getting paid well, I was overworked, on a weekend if I had to step out of my house, I was supposed to first inform my team about my unavailability. This was the case for almost every weekend,” she further adds.
In India, women are more likely to have or develop a mental health issue than men, as per Aon’s Asia Mental Health Index: India report.
Dr. Rahul Chandhok, Head Consultant-Mental Health & Behavioural Science, Artemis Hospital says, “Toxic work cultures in India have profound societal implications that go beyond individual employee experiences. These environments often foster systemic issues such as workplace harassment and gender inequality, reinforcing stereotypes and limiting opportunities for marginalized groups. A culture of silence around such issues can result in normalizing abusive behaviors, creating an atmosphere where victims feel unsupported and voiceless. Moreover, these toxic environments can significantly decrease employee morale and productivity, resulting in high turnover rates and economic inefficiency. ”
Mohita Verma, who is from the marketing industry, echoes Gurnaney’s predicament at a former workplace, “Because of a toxic boss, my already existing anxiety issues became worse. When she would enter the office, I would feel my heart rate increase, because I knew that she would start screaming in front of everyone if she did not like my work. I was unable to sleep at night, and gained a lot of weight because I was stress eating in an attempt to combat the daily stress.”
“Even when she left, the internal politics at my company led to a complete mental breakdown, and I had to start taking anxiety medications,” she says.
Shashank Bharadwaj, Founder & Managing Partner – WebX Integrated Marketing Solutions and CommsJobs.in, points out that workplaces can be toxic even if they are paying good remuneration. It was a culture shock for him at a new workplace as pleasing management was prioritized over actual work.
“Why do you bother whether work is happening or not, you are getting a salary anyway?,” Bhardwaj’s friends asked him.
“One month into my then new workplace, I realized I was feeling traumatized. Beyond office hours, you have to socialize; it was more of an obligation for me. The job itself started compromising my values. I was getting money, but I was crossing all boundaries I had set for myself. After 6-7 months, I might have needed to go for therapy. I came home, couldn’t sleep properly, and didn’t know if I fit in or not. How much is too much? How much is too less? As long as you are bootlicking the CEO and management, you don’t have to do anything. It was a culture shock for me,” he shares.
Revathi Mohan, a counselling psychologist, highlights the persistent stigma around seeking mental health support at work, attributing it to a lack of behavioral education. According to her, “Management often underestimates the value of exit interviews, missing the opportunity to address the root causes of toxic work culture. Toxic environments don’t just affect individuals — they extend to families and communities, increasing stress and straining public health systems, which ultimately reduces the overall quality of life. Every individual contributes to the nation’s economy, but employers often overlook this perspective.”
“Unhealthy workplaces encourage absenteeism, poor performance, and mistreatment of vulnerable groups such as women, junior staff, and marginalized communities. When toxic behaviors are tolerated or normalized, inequality grows, leaving many employees feeling powerless or unsafe. This not only harms the individual but also weakens the economy on a broader scale,” she adds.
Aon’s report shows that employees between 20 to 29 years old are significantly worse off, representing the most strain and mental health risk across age groups. 53% of employees in India say their mental health is having an impact on productivity. Overall, 43% of employees in India say they feel unsettled and nervous, compared with 36% in Asia overall. 52% of workers end the workday feeling mentally and/or physically exhausted.
66% would be concerned about career options being limited if they had a mental health issue that their employer knew about. The Mental Health Index score for this group is lowest at 59.5, which is below the average score of 64.0 for India.
Employees under 40 are more likely than employees older than 50 to report feeling more sensitive to stress than they did last year. This grouping also finds it more difficult to concentrate on their work compared to last year.
Chandhok points out the ethical challenges therapists may face with clients coming to them because of a toxic work culture. “Therapists may struggle with the ethical dilemma of balancing client confidentiality with the need to advocate for change in a workplace environment that fosters harm. There can be resistance from clients who may feel pressured to conform to unhealthy work norms instead of challenging them.”
Furthermore, therapists might also face dilemmas when considering whether to report unethical practices within organizations, which could jeopardize their clients’ jobs, says Chandhok. “Besides this, societal reluctance to confront toxic work cultures can lead to a lack of support for both therapists and clients, complicating the therapeutic process and potentially perpetuating cycles of harm.”
Asif Upadhye, Director at Never Grow Up, highlights subtle toxic workplaces at work: “Small things like cutting half a day pay if you are not in office on time for more than 2 days in a month, or restricting employees from bringing food of their choice in their tiffin (yes, it’s a real thing even today) or asking team members to stay back late just to clock in the hours for the team at so on.”
“On the other side, come the people. It starts from the let’s do a zoom call on Sunday for 30 mins (it’s only thirty minutes) to being verbally abused in a meeting to making the process of taking leaves so difficult that the person eventually, leaves. Now add a pinch of mass lay-offs and added pressure of work and deadlines and you have the complete formula for a toxic workplace,” he concludes.