Mumbai Firm Criticised For Asking Candidates To Have "Personal Life Sorted"

A Reddit user's post about an unusual job requirement has gone viral and triggered a discussion online about work-life balance. The job vacancy, posted by a Navi Mumbai-based company, starts with standard expectations - the interested candidate should have experience in the BPO industry and must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills. However, the last line of the job description has sparked a conversation about work-life balance. “Personal life should be sorted with no baggage,” the requirement reads. 

The company posted the job vacancy for a Talent Acquisition Executive at its Navi Mumbai office. A screenshot of the job posting made its way to the Reddit forum “Recruiting Hell”. “I just saw this under a candidate requirement in a job posting,” the caption of the post reads. 

Take a look below: 

Seriously?
byu/FlakyAssistant7681 inrecruitinghell

The post was shared just a few days ago. Since then, it has amassed nearly 5,000 Upvotes. In the comments section, social media users were largely critical of the requirement. 

“India, so not surprised. The professional work/life imbalance over there is reaching Japan levels,” wrote one user. 

“i'm not at all surprised by this. companies started telling people where they can be in their off hours and what they're allowed to post on social media. no one should be shocked they want to control the rest of your life outside of work, too. they already pushed the boundary and know people will accept it with minimal complaint,” commented another. 

“They're asking for zero emotional baggage prior because a job in BPO will give them twice the emotional baggage,” said a third user. 

“LMAO. I hope they're paying 100% for therapy then and providing weekly hour long slots for therapy,” jokingly expressed a fourth. 

“And of course it is from India. As an Indian I just couldn't stress how toxic the workplace in India is,” commented a fifth. 

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Notably, the post is going viral on social media at a time when many Indians are speaking out against toxic work culture. It also comes days after the death of a 26-year-old Ernst & Young employee in Pune. Anna Sebastian Perayil died just four months after joining EY India's audit and assurance team. In a letter addressed to the company's chairman, Ms Peryil's mother called out EY for overworking her daughter. 

“Burdening newcomers with such backbreaking work, making them work day and night, even on Sundays, has no justification whatsoever... You should show some consideration to new employees. Instead, the management took full advantage of the fact that she was new and overwhelmed her with both assigned and unassigned work," the mother wrote.