For years, Vinod believed hard work meant putting in extra hours, answering emails on weekends, skipping lunch breaks, and sacrificing vacations when deadlines demanded it. It was the work culture he had grown up with and one he proudly carried when he moved from India to Norway nearly 15 years ago.
What happened next left him stunned.
In a post on X, Vinod shared how his Norwegian boss once called him into a meeting. Expecting praise for his dedication, he instead received a reprimand.
The reason? He had replied to work emails on a Saturday and cancelled a planned vacation to complete a project without informing his manager.
According to Vinod, his boss told him that such behavior was unacceptable. Vacations, he was reminded, were not optional but mandatory. More importantly, his actions were setting the wrong example for younger employees who might begin to believe that overworking was the only way to demonstrate commitment.
"I got scolded for working too much," Vinod wrote, recalling his disbelief at the time.
