'Not sustainable in the long run': Ex-WHO scientist Soumya Swaminathan on working 70–90 hours a week

Amid growing debate over long workweeks, former WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan has urged people to listen to their bodies and recognise when they need rest. She warned that prolonged overwork leads to burnout and reduced efficiency, stressing that productivity depends on work quality rather than sheer hours spent.

"People should listen to their bodies and recognise when they need rest as prolonged overwork can lead to burnout and reduced efficiency," Swaminathan told PTI in an interview. While short bursts of intense work are manageable, she stressed that it is not sustainable in the long run. "You can really work hard, let's say for a few months. During COVID, we all did that, right? But could we have continued that for years together? I am not sure," she said.

Swaminathan recalled how healthcare workers operated under immense pressure during the pandemic. "For those two-three years, we did it. We did not sleep much. We were stressed most of the time, worrying about things, especially the healthcare providers. They were working round-the-clock. There was some burnout. Many people left the profession also after that," she noted, adding that such extreme workloads cannot be sustained indefinitely.

She said that rest and mental well-being are crucial for sustained performance. "The human body has some needs for sleep, and mentally also, I feel that you need a break if you are going to be productive and if your thinking process has to be equal," she said.

Rejecting the idea that working long hours guarantees better outcomes, Swaminathan pointed out that efficiency declines after a certain point. "You can sit at your table for 12 hours, but maybe after eight hours, you are not doing that good quality work. So I think all those things also have to be looked at," she said.

Her comments come amid a growing push for longer workweeks by industry leaders. Earlier this year, Larsen & Toubro Chairman S N Subrahmanyan said employees should work 90 hours a week, including Sundays. Infosys Co-founder Narayana Murthy had also called for a 70-hour workweek, while former Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant recently argued that Indians must work 80–90 hours per week to build a $30 trillion economy by 2047.

However, the government has clarified that there is no proposal to increase the maximum working hours. Last month, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje told Parliament that no such policy change is under consideration.