Burnout engulfs India’s IT sector as one in four professionals logs 70 or more hours weekly 

Excessive workloads are directly linked to higher burnout rates [FIle]
| Photo Credit: AP Illustration/Annie Ng

A recent survey conducted by Blind, an anonymous professional community app, has unveiled a stark picture of overwork and burnout plaguing India’s IT sector. The survey, carried out from March 12–19, 2025, among 1,450 verified IT professionals, found that 72% of respondents routinely exceed the 48-hour workweek limit. Shockingly, one in four professionals logs 70 or more hours weekly, contributing to an alarming burnout rate of 83%.

The survey identifies specific companies where extreme work hours are most prevalent. Organisations like Confluent, Intuit, UiPath, Adobe, Uber, InMobi, Salesforce, Walmart, Oracle, Amazon, and Microsoft lead the list, with a large majority of their employees reporting workweeks beyond the legal limit. Even more concerning, up to 42% of employees at Cisco, Amazon, ServiceNow, Walmart, and VMware admit to working over 70 hours weekly.

The root cause of these extreme work habits appears to be systemic pressure to overwork
| Photo Credit:
Blind

Excessive workloads are directly linked to higher burnout rates. While 83% of respondents reported experiencing burnout, the figure exceeds 90% among employees at companies notorious for long work hours. The survey also highlights that 68% of IT professionals feel compelled to respond to work-related messages outside official hours, a behavior partly rooted in remote work habits from the pandemic era but now ingrained in corporate culture.

The root cause of these extreme work habits appears to be systemic pressure to overwork. A staggering 75% of professionals either feel pressured themselves or have observed colleagues being pushed to work beyond standard hours. This relentless cycle of overwork and burnout reflects a troubling trend within the Indian IT landscape.

Despite the demanding environment, many professionals argue that longer hours do not equate to higher productivity. Additionally, industry leaders like Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan have come under fire for advocating 70–90-hour workweeks.