Ex-McKinsey employee quits ₹1.7 crore job: 'Didn't leave my desk, forgot to eat'

A former employee of McKinsey and company, who joined the company in 2021 and worked there for one and a half years, shared about why he decided to quit his job despite earning a whooping package of ₹1.7 crore a year.

A logo of American multinational corporation McKinsey & Company on the first day of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona.(AFP)

"On a typical day, I worked from 7.30 am or 8 am until 11.30 pm. And it was pedal to the metal — I didn't leave my desk, forgot to eat, and dropped tons of weight. I barely remembered to go to the bathroom. I only remembered to get up when I noticed my dog looking at me all sad," he told Business Insider.

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He shared his experience of working with the organisation and said that he realised that there were a number of things that went wrong during his tenure there. Firsty, he felt that the money was not at par with the workload and the mental agony that he felt. Secondly, he expected a culture wherein there would be apprenticeship, however, he often felt alone as there was no one to provide proper guidance. Moreover, sometimes, the partners and seniors were very mean and demotivating at times. 

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“The analysts and associates were all cool, but a few associate partners and partners were mean. They freaked out over mistakes and belittled people's thought processes,” he said. Another reason was his mental health was impacted tremendously as he shared, "I was crying more and taking anxiety medication at a higher dosage than I had ever needed before joining. The week before I decided to leave, I was oscillating between being way too OK, and then crying, and then being way too stoic."

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However, he realizes that the bar was set too high in the company. It did make him learn a lot, unlike his prior experience in other consulting firms. Also, despite the seniors being rude, his colleagues and teammates were always there and stood with one another. He believes that companies should care about its employees and their mental health. 

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