Empathy on Leave: Why Compassion Is Quietly Disappearing from Indian Workplaces

A recent video circulating on X and Instagram showed a bank manager shouting at his subordinates.

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At one point, he snapped, “Bhaadmeinjaayeteri family.” What unsettled viewers was not just the insult, but the tone-cold, dismissive, and disturbingly familiar.For many Indian employees, the video felt less like an exception and more like recognition. Empathy, it seems, has quietly exited our workplaces.

In offices where birthdays are celebrated and “employee wellness” posters line the walls, workers still hesitate to ask for sick leave, struggle to justify family emergencies, and treat mental-health days as indulgences rather than necessities. The rhetoric of care is loud: its practice is scarce.

The Silent Erosion of Empathy

Over the past decade, work in India has become faster, hyperconnected, and increasingly mechanical. Hybrid systems and constant digital monitoring have blurred the line between professional and personal life. In this environment, empathy-the simple act of acknowledging another's emotional reality-often becomes collateral damage.