Produced by: Prashanti Moktan Designed by: Manoj Kumar
Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy recently featured on 3one4 Capital’s podcast ‘The Record’ alongside former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai. During the conversation, Murthy addressed how India’s work productivity is one of the lowest in the world. "Therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, ‘This is my country. I’d like to work 70 hours a week'... exactly how Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War,” said Murthy
Soon enough, NR Narayana Murthy ‘work 70 hours a week’ remark went viral online with users on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn supporting it or slamming it. His suggestion also elicited responses from several India Inc leaders
Supporting the concept of working for 70 hours a week’, Ola Co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal in a post on X said, “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!”
Later during the weekend, Bhavish Aggarwal shared a picture of himself at the Ola Factory and wrote on X (Twitter), "Putting in the hours. Not just 70, more like 140! Only fun, no weekends!”
Marico founder and chairman Harsh Mariwala offered a nuanced perspective. He wrote on X (Twitter), "Reflecting on the recent sentiments expressed by Mr. Narayana Murthy regarding the youth working 70 hours a week, I feel compelled to share my perspective. Undeniably, hard work is the backbone of success, but it is not about the hours clocked in. It's about the quality and passion one brings to those hours.”
Backing NR Narayana Murthy’s ‘work 70 hours a week’ statement, JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal spoke of the path to make India an economic superpower by 2047. He shared on X (Twitter), “A 5 day week culture is not what a rapidly developing nation of our size needs. Our PM Narendra Modi ji works over 14-16 hours everyday. My father used to work 12-14 hours, 7 days a week. I work 10-12 hours everyday. We have to find passion in our work and in Nation Building.”
A fresh perspective was offered on the debacle over NR Narayana Murthy's statement byTech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani. He wrote on X (Twitter), "Have been reading about the outrage to Narayana Murthy's 70 hour work statement… I believe when he talks of work, it's not limited to the company… it extends to yourself and to your country… He hasn't said work 70 hours for the company - work 40 hours for the company but work 30 hours for yourself... Invest the 10,000 hours that makes one a master in one's subject… burn the midnight oil and become an expert in your field. THAT is 70 hours of work which can differentiate you as a youngster and in the process your country..."
Edelweiss Mutual Fund MD & CEO Radhika Gupta offered another perspective and wrote on X (Twitter), "Between offices and homes, many Indian women have been working many more than seventy-hour weeks to build India (through our work) and the next generation of Indians (our children). For years and decades. With a smile, and without a demand for overtime. Funnily, no one has debated about us on Twitter."
“I think junta got offended here because work is still being measured in ‘hours’ than ‘outcome’. The other thing is people feeling as if youngster’s laziness is only thing keeping India from becoming developed. Funny - getting offended unites us more than cricket, religion, caste or language,” wrote former BharatPe MD Ashneer Grover on X (Twitter)
During the SparX podcast hosted by Myntra founder Mukesh Bansal, CRED Founder and CEO Kunal Shah said that no big achievement can come from "work-life balance". He added, "We see an extraordinary execution (in China). It's called 9-9-6 culture - 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. And you see that progress. We cannot have the ambition of being a 10-20 trillion dollar economy and still expect that life should be chill." Notably, his remarks echo similar sentiments to that of NR Narayana Murthy's 'work 70 hours a week' comment