‘Loneliness, long commutes, stressful work’: Zoho CEO warns intense work culture is breaking employees

Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu believes that allowing employees to work closer to home could help prevent burnout. In an interview with PTI, he talked about the difficulties of balancing work and personal life, criticising corporate culture for focusing too much on profits and ignoring employee well-being. Vembu thinks companies can be successful without pushing workers to their limits.

He compared today’s work culture to a “pressure cooker,” warning that too much stress harms both employees and businesses. He highlighted how loneliness, long commutes, and high-stress environments contribute to the problem. “You already have loneliness, long commutes, stressful work conditions. So, you are throwing people into a very big pressure cooker, and very tragically, some people break, other people are broken,” Vembu said. He stressed that companies aiming for quick profits while ignoring their workers' well-being are setting themselves up for long-term failure.

Vembu also shared his personal strategy for maintaining a healthy work-life balance. With over 30 years of experience, he said that preventing burnout is key to staying productive. "I have been working for 27-28 years, and I hope to work for another 28 if possible. But to do that, I cannot allow myself, or my employees, to burn out,” he explained.

A key part of Vembu's approach is decentralising operations. He advocates moving business activities out of big cities, allowing employees to live closer to their hometowns. He believes relocating young workers to big cities often causes isolation and long, stressful commutes, which can lead to burnout. “We often relocate young professionals from small towns to big cities, where their initial struggle is battling isolation. After that, they endure lengthy commutes, sometimes lasting up to two hours each way, especially in places like Bengaluru. It's no wonder many feel burnt out,” Vembu said. He thinks expanding business to smaller towns and rural areas can reduce stress and support sustainable growth.

Vembu also discussed the role of technology in business. He called for tighter regulations on big tech companies to prevent monopolies. He stressed the need for more compatibility between platforms, especially for messaging services. "Messaging platforms must not function in silos. We need standardised systems to curb monopolies and create fair competition," Vembu said.