Celebrities, CEOs, Netizens, everyone has had something or the other to say when Infosys founder Narayana Murthy said that Indians need to work for 70 hours a week. On Tuesday, Vivek Muralidharan, a comedian calculated how the year would look like if we really did work 70 hours a week, which would amount to working for 12 hours a day in a 6-day work week.
Muralidharan, after requesting a phone from the audience, made the calculations and concluded that after setting aside time for everything else including showering, eating and spending time with family, one is left with just about 24 hours a week for ourselves. In the end, the comedian comments, 'Don't we wonder where the year went by? Here's where!' the comment had the crowd in splits.
According to data updated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2023, Indians are among the hardest workers in the world. In comparison with the 10 biggest economies, Indians have the longest work week at 47.7 hours. Talking at a podcast hosted by former CFO of Infosys Mohandas Pai said, “India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world," "So therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, ‘This is my country. I’d like to work 70 hours a week," Murthy said, adding that this is exactly what the Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War. "They made sure that every German worked extra hours for a certain number of years," Murthy added.
As per the ILO report, Indians are already working more than an average American, Brazilian or German national at an average of 2000 hours a year-- this was before the pandemic.
Owing to its findings, ILO is reportedly preparing a special India-specific report on working hours. His wife Sudha Murthy, backed his comments and said, Murthy has worked 80-90 hours a week and he doesn't know what less than that is. Industry leaders like JSW Group CMD Sajjan Jindal and Ola Cabs Co-Founder Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola supported Murthy's views.
While, Edelweiss Mutual Fund MD and CEO Radhika Gupta, on social media, said that Indian women might already be working more than 70 hours a week as they manage their careers along with their families. Murthy, with his comment, seems to have stirred up a storm; with several people backing him, while several others heavily critiquing him.
Dr Deepak Krishnamurthy took to X and bashed Murthy's views. He wrote, “24 hours per day (as far as I know) If you work 6 days a week- 12 hours per day Remaining 12 hours: 8 hours sleep 4 hours remain. In a city like Bengaluru-- 2 hours on the road. 2 hours remain-- Brush, poop, bathe, eat. No time to socialise, no time to talk to family, no time to exercise, no time for recreation. Not to mention companies expect people to answer emails and calls after work hours also. Then, wonder why young people are getting #Heartattacks?"
Reacting to Murthy's remarks, filmmaker Ronnie Screwvala wrote, “Boosting productivity isn't just about working longer hours," Indian entrepreneur and film producer Ronnie Screwvala wrote on X. "It's about getting better at what you do - upskilling, having a positive work environment and fair pay for the work done. Quality of work done > clocking in more hours."
In 2020, Murthy faced flak when he said that Indians should work for 64 hours a week for the next two to three years to make up for the economic losses incurred during the pandemic.
