Ex-Amazon manager says Bengaluru employees happily work 60 hours a week, attend 3 am calls

Adam Broda worked with Amazon for about five years until quitting in December as a senior product manager in Atlanta, US. But his development team was based in Bengaluru. (File photo)

A former Amazon senior manager from Atlanta, US, recently highlighted that during his time at the company, his colleagues in India would have the longest working hours and that they were "happy" to clock in more than 60 hours a week.

Adam Broda, who worked with the tech giant for about five years until quitting in December, said that he had seen the development team in Bengaluru would even attend international group calls at 3 am because they wanted to. His post on LinkedIn added fuel to the ongoing debate on worklife balance in India.

"At Amazon, I worked hard; some weeks I’d work 60+ hours - but never as many as our team members in India," he wrote. Much of our organisation’s development team was based out of Bangalore. They’d be online when I’d login (7 am). They’d join for weekly staff meetings (10 am). They’d often call into afternoon VP-level reviews (4 pm). And here’s the crazy/debatable thing… Most of them were happy to do it. As if 60+ hours was normal, and the opportunity worth taking."

Broda also highlighted that the situation was unnatural and wondered at what point their desire to work cross a line.

"In my five years there, I witnessed multiple leaders asking why they were on calls at 3 am Bangalore time?" he said. "The explanation would (almost) always be the same: 'We want to be here'."

While Broda appeared to laud employees who are energized and excited to do the work, he also added a post script requesting managers to check in on their international employees.

"Frequently ask about hours worked, and how you can better accommodate their needs across different time zones. Even if they want to work more hours, that doesn’t always mean they should," he said.