Greptile, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence business, and its Indian-origin CEO, Daksh Gupta, have faced severe criticism after Gupta’s honest tweet about the company’s demanding work culture went viral. Gupta’s portrayal of excessive hours, little work-life balance, and a high-pressure workplace has triggered heated online arguments regarding the ethics and viability of such methods in the IT business.
In his initial tweet, Gupta stated that he is open with potential employees about what to expect at Greptile. Typical workdays begin at 9 a.m. and end at 11 p.m., or later, and we work Saturdays and Sundays,” he added.
This work plan equates to more than 84 hours per week for most employees. Gupta claimed his goal was to provide transparency so that candidates may make educated decisions about joining the organization.
The tweet soon grabbed popularity, receiving over 1.6 million views and sparking a wave of outrage on social media. Many people accused Gupta of exploiting employees and cultivating a terrible workplace atmosphere. One Twitter user questioned the advantages of such a strategy, asking, “Transparency is great, but what makes you imagine this will make your company successful over giving weekends off to increase productivity?” Another commenter commented, “If you’re not giving them a lot of equity, why would they do that?” Others questioned the influence extended hours might have on employees’ products.