The struggle of Google employees triggered viral posts about technical work culture, high salaries, and battles for checking positions.
A viral post by Google engineer Anu Sharma about working on Sunday sparked a debate about work-life balance among major tech companies like Google.
Anu Sharma Google software engineers at Hyderabad sparked a massive conversation on social media after sharing four hours of experience on Sunday to solve production problems. In her current viral post on X (formerly Twitter), Sharma really understands the feeling of “answer” when she works at a top tech company like Google. Her story leads to extensive discussions about the work-life balance of large tech companies.
Hidden pressure on standby
Sharma explained in her post that while startups can get messy, the pressure on big tech companies is on another level, as any problem has a much greater scale and impact. “It’s harder to call at a Faang company and more impactful than a startup. Trust me, you won’t be paid for your work-life balance,” she wrote. Faang refers to Facebook (now Meta), Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google (a company known for providing high-paying and big job titles).
Sharma’s message resonates with many tech workers who often feel constant job responsibilities, even during normal hours.
Spend the last 4 hours on Sunday’s production issues. Calling at Faang Company is much harder than starting a company and has a greater impact. Trust me, you won’t be paid for your work-life balance.
Anu Sharma (Anuo) April 27, 2025
The mixed reaction of the public
Many people agreed with her online and shared their stories and missed them in their personal time. One user commented: “Call calls at a big company in a different way – the pressure is real, it doesn’t matter if it’s Sunday or not.”
But others are more important, pointing out that there is a reason why employees of companies like Google earn high salaries. One user wrote: “You get over Rs 4 million per year on Google. Don’t cry for the phone call. You work in AC. Consider workers and delivery workers.”
Is work-life balance just a technology dream?
This incident raises a bigger question: Can tech workers really have a work-life balance? While jobs at companies like Google come with impressive salaries, they also have almost always expected them. People who are usually expected to respond to questions at night and weekends.
Some users say these high-pressure moments can actually help people develop professionally. One person shared: “Each fix affects millions of users. Complexity extends you. Tough moments create the best growth opportunities.”
Still, many believe that companies should do more to protect employees’ personal time. Will companies like Google take steps to improve this? But Sharma’s honest post clearly makes people think about how demands of technical life are, even on your rest days.
