BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Relatives of a man who died at Microsoft’s office in Mountain View are calling on tech companies to stop pressuring their employees to overwork themselves.
Pratik Pandey, 35, of Menlo Park, was found face down around 2 a.m. on Aug. 20 at 1045 La Avenida Ave.
Pandey had told his roommate and colleagues that he was under a lot of stress, juggling multiple projects at the same time, community leader Satish Chandra said in an interview Thursday.
The initial assessment by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner indicated that Pandey suffered a heart attack, and he didn’t have any known health issues leading up to his death, Chandra said.
Pandey’s uncle, Manoj Pandey, said Pandey was a very jubilant, hard-work-ing and successful young man.
His colleagues and classmates said he was always helpful, and he liked playing soccer, ping pong and cricket.
“Overall, a very positive person,” his uncle said.
Pandey was born in Indore, India, and immigrated to the United States a decade ago to get a master’s degree from San Jose State University.
Pandey worked as a software engineer at Apple, Illumina and Walmart Labs before landing at Microsoft in July 2020.
On the night of his death, Pandey scanned his badge to get into the office at 7:50 p.m., and he was found in the courtyard about six hours later, his uncle said.
Pandey’s roommates and friends relayed that he continuously worked late nights for a “very extended period of time,” his uncle said.
Pandey’s uncle said tech companies should notice when employees are coming in late at night and do something to relieve their pressure and anxiety.
“That will probably save a life,” he said.
Friends and family hosted a viewing for Pandey today (Friday, Aug. 29) in Fremont before sending his remains to India, where his parents and two sisters live. The viewing of the remains is important for their Hindu culture, his uncle said.
“It’s a lot of pain for the family when a loved one passes away,” he said.
I suffered similar situation, but since I was working from home at late works, 911 calls by my spouse saved me and I am in recovery. However, the sad part is that after returning to work and seeking accommodation to limit my work hours, I was laid off.
There should be balance between work and life/health. If stress, just tell the boss that you need help and work together to solve the problem.
Telling boss = lay offs . Reason for not telling boss unfortunately .
That seems criminal.
Hmm no one is forcing employees to work late. May be the employees try to take a job that is a good fit for them and learn to put boundaries on their time.
These circumstances can arise gradually, once workers are heavily invested for emotional and financial reasons. Their circumstance may not afford the luxury to walk away from gainful employment. Like any toxic relationship, both bear some accountability.
The most certainly are. The company created schedules, adds feature and changes requirements. If you don’t meet your goals, milestone after mllestone, you lose your bonus and risk getting fired. The ONLY way you can meet your “goals” is to work late all the time. I did this for decades until I was so burnt out I couldn’t work anymore. It’s the managers who should face consequences if employees are constantly coming in late.
Firstly, Prateek RIP
The word “no one” does not make sense here. Are you speaking on behalf of all management in all the tech companies.
The stress levels are raised by unrealistic deadlines and commitments. Pressure from management along with fear of layoffs/immigration and paying the bills/mortgage are killers for the tech employees and management is COMPLETELY RESPONSIBLE for that !!!!
Your arrogant confidence says who you are (MAYBE MICROSOFT HR). Do you have any idea how much pressure these engineers are going through, I know, here is the picture some of them are on H1B some have complicated stories they have no where to go but work as hard as possible. They cant set boundaries. This is a new trend in Microsoft with regular on purpose firing employees to scare and control them. Which is worse than layoff one time massively and be done with it. Microsoft is not layoff because they have difficult maintaining business, they are doing it to inflate the stock price. The only option these employees have the following:
1. Quit you cant do if you are on H1B, and the market is very bad so expect to find job in 1 year plus.
2. Say no and not work late, they get fired for performance.
3. Play politics, it doesn’t last, I have seen it the entire gang gets fired.
THERE IS NO SET BOUNDARY HERE. EMPLOYER HAS FULL CONTROL.
Are you a Project Manager?
What an incredibly ignorant comment. Grow up
You are one of them ….
Yes they are. Elon Musk has turned the tech industry into a nightmare. If you don’t work like crazy, you will be fired.
They literally are.
I likely have more experience than anyone you’ve met in the business (about to hit five decades). I have seen this before. It never changes anything because managers tell themselves what you just wrote.
Corporate America is out of control Treating people like machines, that are disposable. Big Tech is one of the worst. Huge profit margins and always increasing demands on their people. They lie to you about how you are important but only so long as you are a high performer and willing to do whatever it takes. They prey on people and are very good at making you think they care.
Yes. Over working is a choice we exercise to keep up with joneses
Couldn’t agree more. No one forced him to work there and, as an at-will employee, could quit anytime for no reason at all.
I am deeply saddened by the news of Pratik Pandey’s passing. I truly hope that his story can resonate with others who might be going through similar struggles. For anyone reading this, please take it as a gentle reminder: if you know someone who is overwhelmed by work, reach out to them. No amount of money is worth sacrificing one’s health and happiness. Although I never knew Pratik personally, he felt like a brother to all of us, and it’s heartbreaking to think he lost his life in such a tragic way. Let’s honor his memory by looking out for one another.
Also, if you don’t overwork, it appears that on performance review they say you did not make enough impact.
I think the state of WA has laws that say a 55 hour week is the max, don’t they?
Washington state laws don’t apply. In California, overtime starts after eight hours in a single day. But if you are an “exempt” employee, there’s no limit on the number of hours you csn be forced to work.
Truth of the matter is that tech companies only care for their bottom line. If they could make you work 120 hours a week, they would until they get AI to do your job and then will lay you off all burned out.
Until tech workers all join unions, this will be the way.
From my experience tech companies and corporate america in general have unrealistic expectations driven by fear and greed.
With all the recent layoffs at MS and the constant pressure for AI cloud wars has everyone stressed, these companies don’t care and you have to look out for yourself, I’m sorry for this young man and condolences to his family, it’s not worth it, look after you first and if it’s too stressful,get another job.they will replace you the day after! I hope MS pays for all his expenses
People now have no idea what actual hard work and long hours are. Most of you whine and the real problem is your soft.
BTW anyone working from home and anyone who never does any physical work at all need to just stop complaining. Try having the mental stress and physical stress both.
As a people leader, I have a strict policy at my workplace that I care about (my reportees). No one can log in or be available online after their 9-hour shift. If they work overtime or on weekends for any reason, they are entitled to an extra day off whenever they want. Work-life balance is super important for long-term well-being. And to get things in time scope and planning is very important. If something is unexpected a clear communication and set expectations are necessary from leadership.
What’s a “people leader”? I’m not current on woke management jargon.
The only important thing in life is yielding maximal profits for corporations and their wealthy (i.e., accomplished) investors. It is a tragedy this worker will no longer be able to contribute.
This is so sad. Om Shanti to Pratik and my prayers with his family in this situation.
This is the worst point of these Tech Companies. They have no empathy and care for human lives. They just show off to world about work-life balance and stuff, but people are full of mental stress and continuous pressure.
I am also an MSFT employee, and I can assure you that company and management is indeed putting too much pressure and unrealistic expectations which cannot be met, and you will definitely miss such deadlines or process. Managers are putting so much stress on that I [35 years male] am thinking of harming myself. Too much mental pressure making my health suffer. Got detected with multiple diseases and anxiety, depression.
Its really happening at MSFT openly. They have made workplace so toxic that either you leave or suffer/die.
Guys, please leave the job if it’s happening to you as well, I know no job can be stressful but better than no life. You will get a new job in sometime, but health and life will not.
i am at MSFT also. Toxic is a good description. They don’t care about their people, they push and push and take and take. You better be a high performer or face losing your job. You constantly have to prove how you are contributing to the bottom line. Toxic and non-caring. CEO used to talk about having empathy for each other. That stopped, now all the talk is about making money.
The increasing use of Generative AI (GenAI) is significantly amplifying “wire pressure,” or the constant, interconnected stress on today’s workforce. This is a major concern because it’s adding a new layer of anxiety to an already “always-on” work culture.
The rapid rollout of GenAI is creating new pressures:
* Fear of Job Displacement: Knowledge workers, previously thought safe from automation, now worry about being replaced by AI.
* Pressure for Increased Output: Employees are expected to become “augmented” and produce more work faster, leading to a new kind of stress.
This augmented pressure affects more people than previous tech revolutions, as it targets a wide range of professionals. The result is a more intense and widespread workplace stress that companies and employees must navigate.
Oncall is one of the levers that makes tech employees work 24 X 7 with pages coming any time of the day or night.
It’s extremely rare that a 35 year old would die of a heart attack because of work-related stress…or any stress for that matter. More likely that the death was vaccine related, as the covid vaccines are known to cause myocarditis, pericarditis and blood clots, among other heart diseases.