Larsen Toubro chief on longer work hours – Larsen and Toubro chief calls for longer work hours after Narayana Murthy

In September last year, the death of a young Ernst and Young (EY) employee allegedly due to excessive workload sparked widespread outrage on social media. The tragic case of Anna Sebastian Perayil, 26, not only brought attention to EY’s practices, but also to the broader issue of overwork in India. The incident has since faded from public memory. The topic gained prominence again on Thursday after the chairperson of multinational firm Larsen & Toubro advocated for a 90-hour work week, including on Sundays too.

SN Subrahmanyan’s remarks have only added fuel to the fire over the ongoing debate on work-life balance, first triggered by Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy in 2023 when he suggested a 70-hour work week. More than his emphasis on strict working hours, it is his awkward reason that has rankled the Internet.

“I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy… What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife?” the L&T chief said during an interaction with employees.

ELON MUSK: WORK LIKE HELL

Subrahmanyan joins a long list of CEOs and entrepreneurs, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, who have been a proponent of longer work hours, disregarding the balance between productivity and well-being in the modern workforce.

Musk, the world’s richest person and known for his strict work ethic, believes that in order to achieve success, one has to “work like hell”. “You just have to put in 80 to 100-hour weeks every week,” Musk said in a 2010 interview. His funda is simple – by working more, one can achieve their target in four months, which otherwise would take a year.

NARAYANA MURTHY’S 70-HOUR WORK WEEK SUGGESTION

In India, the debate on work-life balance was triggered by Narayana Murthy’s suggestion in 2023 that millennials and Gen Z employees should work for 70 hours a week to boost the economy and if India wanted to compete with developed countries.

To buttress his views, the Infosys co-founder stressed that extended work weeks in countries like Japan and Germany played a role in its economic recovery after the World War. His call for a six-day work week drew both support and criticism.

Under the Factories Act and the Shops and Establishments Acts, the standard working hours for employees is 48 hours per week or nine hours per day.

Murthy’s suggestion was echoed by Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, who said in a podcast last year that he was “fully in sync” with his advice. He also shared that he worked 20 hours each on “all seven days” of the week. He also claimed that having holidays on Saturdays and Sundays was a western concept and should not be there in India, triggering backlash and concerns from doctors.

Doctors have linked long working hours with higher chances of stroke, depression, obesity and even premature death.

ANUPAM MITTAL VS NAMITA THAPAR

Shark Tank judges Anupam Mittal and Namita Thapar also weighed in on the topic, even though they had conflicting perspectives. Mittal, founder and CEO of Shaadi.com, underlined that people should put in 80 hours of work in a week early on in their career.

“The actual number is less important… what matters is you work long enough during the week so that it is the only thing you have time for,” Mittal said in a LinkedIn post.

However, his Shark Tank colleague Namita Thapar did not buy the argument, saying that it was unfair to expect salaried employees to work for extended hours.

In an interview, Thapar labelled Mittal’s argument a “crock of bullsh*t”, saying investors could afford to work longer hours because they have more financial freedom than a salaried person. “The founders, set of co-founders and top management, look at the kind of money they are making. Obviously, we could work 20 hours a day,” she said.

The Indian-origin CEO of AI startup Greptile, Daksh Gupta, also became the target of online hate after he revealed in a social media post that his employees are expected to work more than 14 hours a day.

According to a 2023 report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), people in South Asian countries work the longest number of hours per week compared to their counterparts globally.

Last year, both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka faced heavy backlash after amending the Factories Act to allow up to 12-hour work shifts. While Tamil Nadu withdrew the legislation following protests from labour unions, Karnataka has kept it on hold.