Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy's statement on how India's work culture should be has triggered a massive debate on social media.
Recently, he appeared on the inaugural episode of 3one4 Capital's podcast 'The Record' in which he said he wants youngsters to work 12 hours a day so that India can compete with economies that have made tremendous progress in the last two to three decades.
In conversation with former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, he said that India’s work productivity is among the lowest in the world and added that in order to compete with countries like China, the country's youngsters must put in extra hours of work as Japan and Germany did after World War II.
Murthy implored today's youth to take up the mantle of nation-building, proclaiming, "So therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, 'This is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours a week'."
However, Murthy's comments promoting "hustle culture" did not go well with many on social media. Many users slammed him for his "elitist" take.
"What an elitist take!! I can’t even fathom how he suggests such gruelling work hours. Does he know the time people spend travelling? How tough life can be? Don’t they deserve time with family?" an X user wrote.
"With this statement, Mr Murthy is essentially pushing women out of the workplace. Men are never going to share the load of housekeeping, caregiving and childrearing. With a 70 hour work week, women will have no choice but to drop out," another wrote.
A third added, "@NarayanaMurthy Your call for 70-hour work weeks is not just misguided, it's cruel. Exploiting young talent with these demands is nothing short of abuse. We won't tolerate it! Quality work comes from respect, not exhaustion. Time to wake up! #WorkLifeRevolt #RespectTalent"
"For Indians — and not just India — to progress, capitalists like Narayana Murthy should help create more jobs, make better use of their corporate social responsibility funds & most importantly not exploit youngsters," a fourth stated.
Some users, however, agreed with Murthy's thoughts of working extra for the purpose of nation building.
"Totally agree with Mr Murthy’s views. It’s not our moment to work less and entertain ourselves. Rather it’s our moment to go all in and build in 1 generation what other countries have built over many generations!," Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said.
A user said, "...Honestly, I agree with him. He is an entrepreneur who has built India’s one of the biggest brands. I feel sad when I see people who are nothing, trolling him, without understanding his view point."
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