Sarvesh Rajagopal moved back to India in 2024 after a decade in the Middle East and Europe. He left due to career stagnation and Europe's economic challenges, including the war in Ukraine. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sarvesh Rajagopal, who lived in the United Arab Emirates, Netherlands, and Germany before moving back to India.
It has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his employment history. I joined McKinsey right after graduating from my masters in India.
I spent the next three years with the company in India , then moved to the company's office in Dubai for two years, and then to Amsterdam. Getting a chance to live and work overseas was a dream. A little while after moving to Amsterdam, I decided that I had had enough consulting.
The constant travel was also getting tiring. I left McKinsey and worked for the Dutch bank ING as a corporate strategist for over a year before moving to the logistics company Wayfair in 2019. I was one of the first employees in the Berlin office, tasked with building the company's international business, which I still think was the most challenging but fulfilling period of my career.
Life in Europe Things were going well from a lifestyle point of view, too. I enjoyed being done with work by 5 or 6 p.m.
and having the rest of the day to myself. Public transport was a big plus — I enjoyed never owning or needing a car to get around to meet colleagues or friends for dinner or a beer. One of .