The survey also highlights that 68 per cent of IT employees feel pressured to respond to work messages outside of official hours.
India’s IT sector is grappling with extreme work hours, according to a recent survey by Blind, an anonymous forum for employees. The survey, conducted in March 2025 with 1,450 verified IT professionals, found that 72 per cent regularly work more than 48 hours a week, which is over the legal limit. Shockingly, one in four logs 70 or more hours weekly, leading to widespread burnout, with 83 per cent of respondents saying they feel exhausted. The burnout rate is even higher – above 90 per cent at companies known for their gruelling work schedules.
The survey also names companies where long work hours are particularly common. As per a report in thehindu.com, employees at Confluent, Intuit, UiPath, Adobe, Uber, InMobi, Salesforce, Walmart, Oracle, Amazon, and Microsoft frequently report exceeding the legal weekly limit. Even worse, at Cisco, Amazon, ServiceNow, Walmart, and VMware, up to 42 per cent of workers say they clock more than 70 hours per week.
The data shows a clear link between excessive work hours and burnout. While 83 per cent of all respondents reported burnout symptoms, the rate goes above 90 per cent at companies notorious for long hours. The survey also highlights that 68 per cent of IT employees feel pressured to respond to work messages outside of official hours. This practice, which started during the pandemic’s remote work phase, has now become a regular part of corporate life.
The main reason behind these extreme work habits seems to be systemic pressure to overwork. The survey reveals that 75 per cent of IT professionals either feel personally pushed or have witnessed their colleagues being forced to work beyond regular hours. This constant cycle of overwork and burnout highlights a growing issue in India’s IT sector.
Interestingly, many professionals argue that longer hours do not lead to better productivity. “It’s just optics and creating an effect like hard work. Anyone who actually works that hard for six months will burn out,” one verified Oracle professional said on Blind.
Despite this, some industry leaders have faced criticism for promoting extreme work schedules. Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan have both been slammed for suggesting that employees should work 70–90 hours a week.
Blind conducted a survey on its platform from March 12 to 19, 2025, titled “Do you feel overworked?”, aiming to understand the workweek patterns and burnout levels of verified IT professionals in India.
Participants were asked a series of questions. The first question offered three response options, while the following questions required “yes” or “no” answers.
