‘They are living life. We are just living’: Norway’s 7.5-hour workday sparks debate on India’s burnout culture

3 min readNew DelhiJul 4, 2026 08:00 PM IST

Using the anecdote to reflect on India’s corporate culture, Dr Malik contrasted the two work environments.

The pressure of long office hours, late-night meetings, and being expected to respond to work messages after hours has become routine for many professionals in India. Now, a viral LinkedIn post comparing India’s workplace culture with Norway’s has reignited conversations about burnout, work-life balance, and whether working longer actually leads to better productivity.

Dr Ritesh Malik shared the post, recounting the experience of an Indian professional who moved to Norway for work and was surprised by the country’s approach to working hours.

“An Indian employee went to Norway for work. They gave him a 7.5 hour workday. He didn’t know what to do with the rest of his time. He went viral for saying, ‘They are living life. We are just living.’”

Using the anecdote to reflect on India’s corporate culture, Dr Malik contrasted the two work environments. He described Norwegian workplaces as having “no ‘Sir’ culture, no 10 pm Slack messages, managers who don’t confuse availability with dedication, and weekends that exist for real.”

He argued that India’s culture of overwork did not emerge by chance but was shaped by intense competition for limited opportunities.

“We didn’t accidentally build a burnout culture. It was the logical output of a system with too many people chasing too few opportunities. Working harder than the next person was the only real differentiator. Exhaustion became a competitive strategy, and now we call it passion.”

Dr Malik also challenged the assumption that longer working hours automatically translate into higher productivity. According to him, Norway’s success comes from employees being focused during work rather than spending more hours at their desks.

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“Norway isn’t more productive because its people work less. It’s more productive because its people are present when they do. The most dangerous thing about normalising exhaustion is that you stop being able to tell the difference between drive and damage. In India, there is a whole generation that knows how to work. But we forgot to teach them how to live.”

Post draws mixed reactions online

The post resonated with many professionals, particularly those who have experienced different work cultures abroad.

One LinkedIn user, who had moved to Australia, shared a similar experience. “I agree with this. When I relocated to Melbourne, my efficiency was too high and I was overworking. In fact, the first feedback I got from my leadership was to slow down and not be too efficient. They said things don’t work here the way they do in many Asian countries.”

Others felt the comparison depended heavily on the industry and stage of a business.

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“It also depends on where you work and which industry you’re in. Early-stage startups often can’t operate on 7.5-hour days, building something from scratch takes intensity, especially when resources are limited,” another commenter said.

A LinkedIn user said the post captured a deeper shift in workplace culture. “The line about exhaustion becoming a competitive strategy is the one that stays with me. At some point the signal flipped; being visibly tired stopped being a warning sign and started being proof of commitment. That’s a hard cultural inversion to undo because the people who benefited from it are now the ones setting the norms,” the user said.