Amazon India's senior vice president Amit Agarwal proposed "work-life harmony" to his colleagues and asked them to stop responding to work emails between 6 pm and 8 am, Bloomberg reported.

Agarwal, in his email, talked about the importance of work discipline and how to draw a boundary when balancing work and life, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

The email came at a time when IT employees from Bengaluru expressed on social media as to how sleep deprived they have been.

Experts such as psychologists, sleep laboratories and fertility clinics have raised concerns about the mental and physical toll the employees face. The overworked employees are likely to face symptoms such as insomnia, depression and suicidal tendencies, Dr S Kalyanasundaram, a psychiatrist, told the news website. “These days I see many 25- and 28-year-olds suffering heart attacks, something I haven’t seen in my four decades in this field,” he was quoted in the report.

The doctor added that all his Saturday appointments are usually reserved for the tech workers and more than often. the appointments get booked in advance. “It’s a disaster; it’s a ticking time bomb waiting to explode,” the doctor said.

Along with the tech employees, the rising startup industry faces a similar lifestyle. Giving an example , the report mentioned about OYO Rooms founder Ritesh Agarwal who gets minimal sleep during the work week and catches up by going to sleep early on a Saturday night and waking up in the noon the next day.

First Published:Aug 20, 2018 9:19 AM IST