Latest news with #DakshGupta
Mint
23-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Contractual employee calls Zepto's work culture ‘toxic,' ‘straight-up abusive'
A former contractual employee at Zepto has levelled serious allegations against the quick-commerce firm, describing the workplace as 'toxic' and comparing their experience to 'psychological warfare'. The claims, made in a now-viral social media post, have sparked fresh scrutiny of the company's work culture. According to sources cited by HT, the incident concerns a contract worker employed through a third-party vendor, and 'no on-roll Zepto employee is directly involved in this incident'. The graduate alleged that their managers were 'straight-up abusive' and that, being a contractual worker, they had no access to HR support or any formal grievance redressal mechanism. 'I was broke, jobless and desperate,' the Redditor explained, stating this was why they accepted the offer. They also admitted to composing the viral post 'with the help of ChatGPT'. The account details grueling work conditions: 'Six days a week, sometimes all seven. 9 AM to 8 PM, occasionally later. No lunch break some days. No holidays. No structure. If someone from the team took a break, it was fine—but if I took one, I'd get a call from a senior asking why I'm not 'committed'.' The post further alleges physical intimidation by a manager. 'One manager literally started making hand gestures as if he was going to slap or punch me—repeatedly. He never hit me, but the intimidation was constant. That feeling of being trapped, of never knowing when the shouting might turn into something physical... that's trauma.' 'I used to freeze at my desk, scared, anxious, and helpless. That's not a job. That's psychological warfare,' the former employee wrote. The user also recounted their last day at work, claiming HR 'showed zero empathy' even after being informed the worker was unwell. They were reportedly told to return the company laptop within an hour despite having a fever. The controversy has resurfaced past criticism of Zepto's CEO, Aadit Palicha, who faced backlash in December last year over remarks seen as dismissive of work-life balance. 'I have nothing against work-life balance. In fact, I recommend it to all our competitors,' he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, amid another wave of allegations around the company's workplace culture. He later added, 'FYI, not my quote - read it from an interview of Daksh Gupta.' Gupta, an Indian-origin CEO based in San Francisco, had drawn flak for promoting 84-hour workweeks at his AI startup.
Hindustan Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
AI engineer says ‘psychological warfare' at Zepto contract job. Company counters viral post
A former contractual employee at Zepto has made serious allegations of a toxic work culture during their stint at the quick-commerce company. In a now-viral Reddit post, the person described the experience as akin to 'psychological warfare". Among several allegations, the graduate said their managers were "straight-up abusive" and that because it was a contract role, the employee had no HR support or grievance redressal. Sources familiar with the incident said the "issue is pertaining to a contractual employee and that particular vendor's ecosystem. No on-roll Zepto employee is directly involved in this incident". The former contract worker said they accepted the job offer as they were "broke, jobless and desperate". They also confessed to writing the Reddit post with the help of ChatGPT. "Six days a week, sometimes all seven. 9 AM to 8 PM, occasionally later. No lunch break some days. No holidays. No structure. If someone from the team took a break, it was fine—but if I took one, I'd get a call from a senior asking why I'm not 'committed'," the Redditor said. "One manager literally started making hand gestures as if he was going to slap or punch me—repeatedly. He never hit me, but the intimidation was constant. That feeling of being trapped, of never knowing when the shouting might turn into something physical... that's trauma," the former employee said. "I used to freeze at my desk, scared, anxious, and helpless. That's not a job. That's psychological warfare." The user said on their last working day, the HR "showed zero empathy" despite conveying that the worker had fever, asking them to return the company laptop within an hour. (Also Read: Zepto calls employees for 2 am meetings? CEO Aadit Palicha pokes fun at work-life balance amid viral Reddit claim) Last December, Zepto's 22-year-old CEO Aadit Palicha sparked a huge debate with his controversial remarks on work-life balance right after another Reddit post alleged 'toxic work culture" culture. 'I have nothing against work-life balance. In fact, I recommend it to all our competitors,' he wrote on X. He quickly followed up with another post: 'FYI, not my quote - read it from an interview of Daksh Gupta.' Daksh Gupta is an Indian-origin CEO in San Francisco, who faced backlash for advocating 84-hour workweeks at his AI startup.
