'No Fixed Hours': Indian Employee Compares Canadian Work Culture With India, Sparks Debate
The viral post quickly resonated with thousands of professionals who voiced their frustration with the traditional 'workforce grind' prevalent in the country.
An Indian professional working remotely for a Canadian startup has triggered a massive online discussion regarding corporate culture, drawing a stark comparison between the highly flexible, trust-based approach abroad and the intense, hours-driven environment often found in Indian companies.
The viral post, shared by a user identified as Karan on the social media platform X, quickly resonated with thousands of professionals who voiced their frustration with the traditional "workforce grind" prevalent in the country.
Karan detailed a series of benefits that enables him to have a better work-life balance. In a post on X, he wrote, "I work remotely for a Canadian startup! Despite working remotely, the hours differ from India."
Perks include:
No fixed office hours, just Friday-to-Friday updates
No US shift work
Competitive salary
Informal culture, using first names
Near-equal team pay
Open idea-sharing
The CEO avoids pressuring staff.
"With this freedom, no project has been delayed; all are on time. Their mindset is to deliver projects and take a week off for learning. No one cares about working hours; we sometimes work weekends or relax all week," he added.
Karan’s said that he would "never prefer a job at an Indian company, even with a better CTC. He openly criticised Indian firms for being "stuck in an endless workforce grind".
The sentiment found wide agreement on social media, with numerous users sharing anecdotal evidence of toxic environments, constant after-hours availability demands, and micromanagement. One user commented that Indian companies "need to change the working culture... if we want to attract and retain the best employees".
One user working for a Norwegian company echoed Karan’s sentiment, detailing a similar environment of high trust: "I can login at any time between 9-10 am," with "updates only once a week" and "weekends total off".
User Ravi Pandey, currently working for a US-based firm, reinforced the core theme, noting that in their environment, "working hours don't matter much but deliverables do... there's no politics, unnecessary timings".
However, the discussion was also tempered with nuance. User Bhanu, who has worked in Canadian companies for over a decade, cautioned against generalisation, "Worked in multiple Canadian companies for 10+ years, and honestly, it all depends on the company."
User Vedik, who shared a common grievance said, "I recently resigned from my company just because of this. The founder wanted me to work after hours and I was on a date."
