The sudden death of a Microsoft engineer at work has reignited scrutiny on an overworking crisis plaguing America’s high-stress jobs.
The family of Pratik Pandey, 35, slammed the tech firm for running the ‘bright, hardworking young man’ into the ground, and said he was often made to work well into the night.
Initial reports from the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner indicated he suffered a heart attack on campus on August 20.
The tragedy has seen Pandey join a growing list of young, successful workers who appeared to be worked so hard they died on the job.
Pandey’s passing also spurred a renewed discussion over whether working a high-powered job is worth the grueling hours and time away from loved ones, unfolding just a year after one of the most shocking examples in recent memory.
The engineer’s death recalled that of Denise Prudhomme, a 60-year-old Wells Fargo employee in Tempe, Arizona, who sat dead at her desk for over four days before anyone noticed her.
Prudhomme’s death sparked widespread outrage as many could not believe none of her coworkers could have checked on her for half a week, before the smell of her corpse attracted someone’s attention.
Here, Daily Mail takes a look at some of the tragic deaths of young workers in America who may be alive today if not for their overwhelming work.
The sudden death of Microsoft engineer Pratik Pandey, 35, who passed away while at work, has reignited scrutiny on an overworking crisis that has been plaguing America’s high-stress jobs
The engineer’s death recalled that of Denise Prudhomme, a 60-year-old Wells Fargo employee (not pictured) in Tempe, Arizona, who sat dead at her desk for over four days before anyone noticed her
Denise Prudhomme
The Wells Fargo worker’s death at her desk made international headlines as workers were left stunned she could have sat dead alone for over four days.
Despite 24/7 security in the corporate building, Prudhomme went unnoticed in her unit since she scanned into work at 7am on August 16 until she was found August 20.
‘It’s really heartbreaking and I’m thinking, ‘What if I were just sitting there?” one distraught employee told 12News. ‘No one would check on me?’
‘To hear she’s been sitting at the desk like that would make me feel sick,’ they added. ‘And nobody did anything. That’s how she spent her last moments.’
A union representing Wells Fargo workers slammed the company in a blistering statement after her death, saying the bank ‘monitors our every move and keystroke using remote, electronic technologies.
‘The contradictory nature of electronic surveillance versus an unnoticed death sheds light on the reality of what it means to be a worker at Wells Fargo.’
Leo Lukenas
Just months before Prudhomme’s passing, the banking world faced another sudden death of Bank of America trader Leo Lukenas, 35, who was said to have been pulling 100-hour working weeks
Lukenas, a 35-year-old father of two, suffered a blood clot while working as a banker at Bank of America’s Midtown Manhattan offices
Just months before Prudhomme’s passing, the banking world faced another sudden death of a trader who was said to have been pulling 100-hour working weeks.
Leo Lukenas, a 35-year-old father of two, suffered a blood clot while working as a banker at Bank of America’s Midtown Manhattan offices.
A former enlisted soldier who had only worked in finance for around six months at the time, he was said to have already been contacting recruitment companies in hopes of leaving the grueling work schedule.
Douglas Walters, a managing partner at GrayFox Recruitment, said at the time Lukenas did not raise any health issues but said he couldn’t keep up his rigorous shift pattern.
He said Lukenas had asked him if it was normal to put in up to 110 hours at work at other banks, and told him he would ‘trade hours of sleep for a pay cut.’
Adnan Deumic
Weeks after Lukenas’ death, Bank of America was hit with another scandal as young trader Adnan Deumic, 25, died of a suspected heart attack
Deumic, 25, ‘probably worked 11 to 12 hours a day and those hours were incredibly intense… he didn’t have time to get coffee,’ friends said after his death in early 2024
Weeks after Lukenas’ death, Bank of America was hit with another scandal as a young trader died of a suspected heart attack.
Adnan Deumic, 25, dropped dead while playing an after-work charity soccer match with other finance employees.
While working in the London office, Deumic was said to have been working around 60 hours a week, but was in a ‘highly stressful’ role.
‘He probably worked 11 to 12 hours a day and those hours were incredibly intense… he didn’t have time to get coffee,’ a source told the New York Post at the time.
They added he was working on trades of up to $1billion despite being relatively inexperienced.
Carter McIntosh
In January of this year, Texas investment banker Carter McIntosh joined a growing list of young workers to pass away from an apparent stress-related death
McIntosh, a 28-year-old banker at Jefferies in Dallas, Texas, worked grueling 100-hour work weeks as a high-powered trader
In January of this year, Texas investment banker Carter McIntosh joined a growing list of young workers to pass away from an apparent stress-related death.
The 28-year-old worked grueling 100-hour work weeks, and was a high-powered trader at the Jefferies investment bank in Dallas.
But his apparent success overshadowed a dark reality as McIntosh suffered a possible overdose in his apartment.
Authorities said he took a toxic mix of fentanyl and cocaine, and was found with a ‘white powdery substance’ and a rolled up $100 bill nearby.
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