Diwali is when companies across India celebrate the festive season by giving sweets, gift hampers, dry fruits, shopping vouchers and other presents to employees. But one Delhi-based company has taken it up a notch this year: they reportedly gifted iPhone 16 smartphones to its employees.
A video of expensive gifts placed on office desks went viral on social media and many employees from other offices wished they had received something similar. The Diwali surprise has led to conversations about appreciation for employees, workplace culture and how companies choose to celebrate their teams during the festive season.
The company, which is based in Rohini, New Delhi posted a short video of its Diwali celebrations on Instagram. The clip around 15 seconds long shows several iPhone 16 handsets neatly placed on desks of employees right in front of their computer screens.
Each smartphone has been decorated with ribbon (to give it the festive feel) and can be seen in white, green, blue and black colours. Towards the end of the video several women employees are seen reacting happily after seeing the gifts waiting for them at their workstations.
The company posted the video with the caption No competition. Aapko kya mila? (No competition. What did you get?). The playful caption only added to the excitement and encouraged social media users to compare what gifts they had received from their own employers. It went viral pretty quickly people were praising the company for choosing premium smartphones instead of traditional festive gifts given in offices.
For many employees Diwali gifts are part of workplace celebrations. Companies give sweets, gift boxes, dry-fruit hampers, electronic accessories, vouchers or other useful items on the occasion. These gestures are appreciated but getting a premium smartphone (iPhone 16) is certainly not. Delhi company’s reported decision has therefore been unusual this festive season especially with employees who are used to smaller gifts from their organisations.
Social media users reacted to the video in excitement, appreciation and humour. Some people appreciated that the employer recognised its employees with such an expensive gift. Others wanted to know what company it was and if they had any job openings (one user apparently said he wanted to join this organisation and ask for recruitment opportunities).
Soon the comments section became a place where people joked about sending their resumes to the company so they could get similar festive benefits in future.
Others compared it to what they had received from their own workplaces. One joked about not even getting a box of soan papdi from the employer and another said “watching such videos during Diwali can make employees elsewhere jealous”.
Someone else commented that female employees got iPhones and male employees gold coins. Reactions like these made the discussion more fun and brought the clip out there for wider consumption.
The video also raised questions about its legitimacy. Some viewers wondered if the clip had been AI-generated at first. When one commenter asked whether it was, the company responded by saying “this is not AI generated” and that the video wasn’t AI generated. That comment made another talking point in the viral discussion as users continued to share their reactions to the unusual festive surprise.
But beyond entertainment value the incident shows that employee appreciation has become part of conversations around workplace culture. If you reward employees thoughtfully then they feel recognised and valued (especially when families come together during major festivals).
Expensive gifts aren’t the only way to build employee satisfaction but gestures of appreciation can make workplaces better places to be. Companies have different budgets and policies so not every company can offer premium smartphones but the intention behind festive recognition can still make a difference.
For now, the Delhi company’s iPhone 16 Diwali gift video is one of the talking points on social media. Details like how many phones were distributed and overall cost of gifts have not been publicly disclosed in the reports but the short clip has definitely grabbed internet attention users are praising it, joking about their own office gifts and asking about job opportunities; it’s become a festive viral moment. It also asked a question that many employees may be thinking this Diwali: what did your company give you this year?
Comments