Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy’s recent comment that youngsters should work 70 hours a week has sparked sharp reactions from India Inc leaders as well as internet users. Industry leaders have given mixed reactions with entrepreneurs like Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal and JSW’s Sajjan Jindal supporting it, while upGrad’s Ronnie Screwvala and Hi-COM’s Sukhbir Singh Bhatia expressing divergent views.
In a podcast ‘The Record’ on 3one4 Capital’s YouTube channel, Narayana Murthy in conversation with former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai said that for India to compete with economies that have made tremendous progress in the past 2-3 decades, youngsters need to work 70 hours a week.
Responding to this, 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!”
Murthy said India’s work productivity is among the lowest globally, and the country’s youth need to put in extra hours of work — like Japan and Germany did after World War 2 — in order to compete with countries like China.
In a post on X, Sajjan Jindal said, “I whole heartedly 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.”
He said 5-day work week culture is not what a rapidly developing nation of our size needs. “Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi 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.”
Expressing divergent view, Ronnie Screwvala, co-founder and chairman of edtech platform upGrad, said the quality of work mattered more than longer hours. “Boosting productivity isn’t just about working longer hours. 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,” he said in a post on X.
Sukhbir Singh Bhatia, CEO of internet service provider Hi-COM Network, also said while a 70-hour work week could demonstrate dedication, it’s also important to understand that a well-rested driven team was capable of much more. “Adopting a work-life balanced culture encourages innovation, creativity, and employee satisfaction — all of which are important success factors.”
According to a Business Standard report, Shree Cement Chairman Hari Mohan Bangur said it is an individual choice and not to be enforced. “Roughly 10,000 hours of work is required to learn the trade and 20,000 hours to become a master of the trade. But how soon one wants to get there should be left to the individual…everybody should have a choice.”
Akshay Mehrotra, co-founder and CEO, Fibe, said he believed in a work-life balance, and productivity was not linked to hours put in but efforts to deliver results. Fibe, formerly EarlySalary, is a digital lending start-up.
In the podcast, Narayana Murthy also said, “India’s work productivity is one of the lowest in the world. Unless we improve our work productivity, unless we reduce corruption in the government at some level, because we have been reading I don’t know the truth of it, unless we reduce the delays in our bureaucracy in taking this decision, we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress,” he said.
He said the country’s youth must say that ‘this is my country. I would like to work 70 hours a week’.
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