A debate on workplace culture intensified this week after a senior executive’s LinkedIn commentary on employees taking Mondays off prompted strong criticism across professional networks. The remarks, made by Nagaraj MC, Chief Quality Officer at a software firm, were also discussed extensively on the subreddit Indian Workplace, where users challenged his stance as outdated and overly rigid.
Reflecting on over thirty years in the corporate sector, Nagaraj wrote that he had repeatedly observed a recurring pattern of staff attempting to avoid work at the beginning of the week. He noted that such requests became particularly common after the pandemic, with employees frequently asking to work remotely on Mondays.
In his assessment, this behaviour undermined the workplace in several ways:
Diminished energy: Employees extending their weekends by skipping Mondays, he argued, returned with “reduced enthusiasm”, slowing the pace of delivery and agility in execution.
Weakening focus on priorities: Nagaraj emphasised that Mondays were crucial for setting momentum for the week. In his view, physical presence enabled clearer planning, more effective communication, and interpretation of body language, all of which remote work arrangements often failed to replicate.
Erosion of collaboration: Repeated Monday absences, he maintained, strained team cohesion, encouraged blame-shifting, and reduced opportunities to build trust through in-person dialogue.
He concluded that reliable attendance on Mondays was “essential for innovation, accountability, and the strengthening of professional relationships”. While acknowledging that flexibility had its place, he urged leaders to foster Monday office attendance to ensure “structured planning and smooth execution of collective goals”.
Nagaraj’s commentary drew a sharp response from professionals, many of whom rejected the notion that performance should be tied to attendance on a particular day.
One LinkedIn respondent wrote: “Performance should be measured by contributions rather than specific days of attendance. Every weekday holds equal value, and the real measure of productivity is consistency across the week.”
Another commenter labelled his perspective “regressive”, particularly in light of global shifts towards more flexible working practices. They argued: “At a time when artificial intelligence and digital tools are transforming workplaces, Western companies are experimenting with four-day workweeks. Yet some Indian leaders continue to advocate strict in-office mandates. This reflects weak leadership styles rather than strong management.”
Additional voices echoed the view that finishing work on time should outweigh physical presence, with some accusing such attitudes of amounting to micromanagement.
The discussion coincided with reports that large international organisations were also refining their workplace policies. According to Fortune, Swiss banking group UBS, unlike its Wall Street rivals JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, avoided imposing hardline return-to-office rules. Instead, an internal memo, first reported by Finews, instructed employees to attend the office at least three days per week.
The bank further barred remote working on both Fridays and Mondays, thereby preventing employees from creating long weekends away from the office. The approach echoed Deutsche Bank’s 2023 policy, which introduced similar restrictions. UBS stated that its hybrid system was designed to preserve opportunities for in-person collaboration while still providing flexibility, aiming to “strike a balance between innovation and tradition”.
The wider discussion linked with the well-documented concept of “Monday Blues”. Siloam Hospitals described this as the negative emotions employees often feel when transitioning from weekends back into the working week. While not a recognised medical disorder, the condition shares features with stress-related illnesses.
Typical signs include low mood, fatigue, anxiety, irritability, disrupted sleep, headaches, muscle tension, and even higher blood pressure. Causes are thought to include job dissatisfaction, pressure at work, or unhealthy weekend routines such as irregular sleep or substance use. Negative thought patterns—such as imagining worst-case scenarios or engaging in all-or-nothing thinking—can also intensify the experience.
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