A former Amazon senior manager from Atlanta, Adam Broda, recently shared his observations on the long working hours of his colleagues in India during his time at the company. Broda, who worked at Amazon for five years before leaving in December, noted that team members in Bengaluru often worked more than 60 hours a week and were “happy” to do so. His post on LinkedIn has sparked further discussion on the work-life balance issue in India.
“In my time at Amazon, I worked hard, often clocking 60+ hour weeks—but I never worked as much as our team in India,” Broda wrote. He explained that the development team in Bengaluru would frequently join international calls, sometimes as early as 3 a.m. local time. “They’d be online when I logged in at 7 a.m., they’d join weekly staff meetings at 10 a.m., and often attend afternoon VP-level reviews at 4 p.m. And the crazy thing is, most of them were happy to do it. For them, working over 60 hours a week seemed normal, and the opportunity was worth it.”
Broda acknowledged that while employees’ enthusiasm to work was commendable, he found the situation unnatural and questioned when their willingness to work crossed a line. “In my five years there, I witnessed multiple leaders asking why employees were on calls at 3 a.m. in Bangalore,” Broda said. “The answer was always the same: ‘We want to be here.'”
While Broda praised the dedication of the employees, he also offered a piece of advice for managers. “Frequently ask about the hours worked and how you can better accommodate their needs across different time zones,” he wrote. “Even if employees want to work more, it doesn’t always mean they should.”