The founder of Infosys Narayana Murthy has recently stated that India’s work culture must evolve and young people must be ready to work 70 hours a week. The statement ignited debates over social media in recent days. Many people have contributed their perspectives on the same. Notably, the proposal also found many takers in the likes of Ola Co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal, former board member of Infosys Mohandas Pai, Harsh Mariwala of Kaya Limited, Radhika Gupta and JSW Group chairman Sajjan Jindal.
“I wholeheartedly endorse Mr Narayana Murthy’s statement. It’s not about burnout, it’s about dedication. We have to make India an economic superpower that we can all be proud of in India 2047. A 5-day week culture is not what a rapidly developing nation of our size needs,” said Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, JSW Group.
The latest to join the solidarity queue is Sudha Murthy and CRED Founder Kunal Shah. He said he believes that India has imbibed the Western concepts of a ‘chill life’ before becoming a developed nation and said no big achievement can come from ‘work-life balance’. “I am not saying it is not a choice you should not make – it is a personal choice. But as a country, we have to go a long way,” he said in a podcast hosted by Myntra founder Mukesh Bansal.
Saying something similar to Murthy’s remark, Shah 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.” He also added that India is a classic country that is confused.
Author of children’s literature and wife of Narayana Murthy, Sudha Murthy has said that, told News18, “He has worked 80 to 90 hours a week, so, he doesn’t know what less than that is. He believes in real hard work and he lived like that. Hence, he has told what he felt.”
“People have different ways of expression. But he lived like that, he walked the talk. So, he has shared his experience,” she further remarked.
On the contrary, the discussions on work-life balance, pay scale of employees, health concerns and many more workplace issues have come up for discussions along with Murthy’s statement.
