50% of employees in India work at least 49 hours per week, shows data

The recent death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old chartered accountant (CA) at Ernst & Young, has brought attention to work-related stress among the youth

Half of employees in India still work at least 49 hours per week, despite the share declining by around 13 percentage points over the past five years. Even in 2023, the proportion of those working beyond statutory provisions exceeded that of many peer nations, not to mention the developed world.

Indian labour laws prescribe a 48-hour workweek for employees. Data from the International Labour Organization shows that the share of those working 49 hours or more has decreased from 63.4 per cent in 2018 to 50.5 per cent in 2023.

Despite this decline, the proportion of those working at least 49 hours a week in India is still higher in 2023 than in countries such as South Africa (19.6 per cent), the US (11.8 per cent), Brazil (9.9 per cent), and the UK (8.9 per cent).

 

The recent death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old chartered accountant at EY, has drawn attention to work-related stress among youth.

While the share of men working 49 hours or more has reduced from 86.8 per cent in 2018 to 83.9 per cent in 2023, the share of women has increased from 13.2 per cent to 16.1 per cent during the same period.

Women suicides linked to professional or career problems accounted for 13.3 per cent of such cases in the country in 2022, compared to 17 per cent in 2018.

Overall, 2,083 suicides due to professional or career problems were recorded in 2022, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau. This was the second-highest number since 2012. In 2021, 2,593 cases were registered.

Suicides related to professional issues accounted for 1.2 per cent of all cases in 2022, up from 0.8 per cent in 2012.

Most of those committing suicide due to professional reasons were youth in 2022. Individuals in the age group of 18-30 years accounted for 38.5 per cent of these suicides, followed by the 30-45 age group, which represented 36.7 per cent.

In 2018, the 18-30 age group accounted for 33.4 per cent, while the 30-45 group held a share of 38.4 per cent.

Maharashtra accounted for the highest number of these cases across states and Union Territories, with a share of 30.7 per cent in total in 2022, followed by Gujarat (16.4 per cent), Karnataka (11.4 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (4.9 per cent), and Kerala and Tamil Nadu (4.8 per cent each).