NR Narayana Murthy: Why Indians are debating a 70-hour work week

[hassan918]

How many hours should a person work in a week?

That's the question being asked in India over the past few days after software billionaire NR Narayana Murthy - the father-in-law of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - said that young people should be ready to work 70 hours a week to help the country's development.

"India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world," he said on a podcast recently. "Unless we improve our work productivity... we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress."

"So, therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, 'This is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours a week'," he added.

After the comments went viral, Mr Murthy received both support and criticism as people on social media and the opinion pages of newspapers debated "toxic" work cultures, and what employers can expect from the people they hire.

Some of the criticism came from people who pointed out the starting salaries - typically on the low end - for engineers in Indian technology companies including Infosys, which Mr Murthy co-founded.

Others focused on the physical and mental health issues that could arise from working without a break.

"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 heart attacks?" Dr Deepak Krishnamurthy, a Bengaluru-based cardiologist, wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

And some pointed out that most women worked much more than 70 hours a week - at both the office and their homes.

NR Narayana Murthy: Why Indians are debating a 70-hour work week

A billionaire's advice to young Indians has sparked a conversation on healthy versus toxic work culture.

www.bbc.com

 

[hassan918]

70 hours a week doesn't look possible. I don't think there will be many youngsters who would want to work 70 hours a week.

 

[JaDed]

It’s a good discourse to have.

He is incorrect if he wants them to work 70 hrs for one employer.

40 hrs for employer and 30 for yourself is how it should be but Mr. Murthy seems to be recommending 70 for employers which is silly.

 

[JaDed]

70 hours a week doesn't look possible. I don't think there will be many youngsters who would want to work 70 hours a week.

No we all have worked 60-70 hrs in our 20s for IT.. it’s sad but i would say because colleges aren’t as good at training us(atleast me).

 

[Champ_Pal]

If you do not like the work culture, you can always quit and move to a different employer.

Better use the experience gained at Infosys as a launch pad for better companies with better pay. In India, if you do not want your job, there are always a 1000 people waiting to gladly take your spot. There is no scarcity of qualified people in India.

 

[Champ_Pal]

No we all have worked 60-70 hrs in our 20s for IT.. it’s sad but i would say because colleges aren’t as good at training us(atleast me).

Colleges will not teach you job skills or life skills. They teach you mostly things which we rarely use in our jobs. Its just a degree to show to your employer that you have enough brain in you to learn new stuff. Ultimately most young employees learn the necessary job skills while working.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Indians are hard workers. Millions spend more than 100 hours on twitter and forums trolling, this will be a walk in the park.

 

[Champ_Pal]

Indians are hard workers. Millions spend more than 100 hours on twitter and forums trolling, this will be a walk in the park.

You would get an honorary citizenship for your efforts too.

 

[KingKhanWC]

You would get an honorary citizenship for your efforts too.

7 hours a week is enough for me. How many hours do you work and is @cricketjoshila bhai a fellow worker or does he have his own business?

 

[Champ_Pal]

7 hours a week is enough for me. How many hours do you work and is @cricketjoshila bhai a fellow worker or does he have his own business?

8 hours a day.

I believe brother Joshila is a lawyer.

 

[KingKhanWC]

8 hours a day.

I believe brother Joshila is a lawyer.

If someone needs the money, they should work as much as possible but in general working more than 8 hours a day isnt healthy.

Why does this chap want Indians to work 70 hours a week? To make him richer?

 

[Bewal Express]

barely cope with 40.

 

[ElRaja]

you do not increase productivity by working more but by working more efficiently. there is no way anyone can have the capacity to work at high intensity for twelve hours, even the most diligent, tenacious and focussed people i know can only manage about 1.5 to 2 hours before their intensity wanes.

unless you want pure monkey see monkey do type work, any kind of problem solving job needs intense bouts of focus, with frequent breaks into other activities.

having worked with asians (all types, Pakistani, indian, whatever) i can easily say one of the biggest losses of productivity is managers who cannot communicate or delegate. yes ive come across some exceptional managers, but the vast majority have the same "danda kai zor par" approach of the OP.

clearly all the skilled managers get their visas, go to the US or wherever and leave the useless ones to mire the country in their lack of productivity.

 

[KingKhanWC]

you do not increase productivity by working more but by working more efficiently. there is no way anyone can have the capacity to work at high intensity for twelve hours, even the most diligent, tenacious and focussed people i know can only manage about 1.5 to 2 hours before their intensity wanes.

unless you want pure monkey see monkey do type work, any kind of problem solving job needs intense bouts of focus, with frequent breaks into other activities.

having worked with asians (all types, Pakistani, indian, whatever) i can easily say one of the biggest losses of productivity is managers who cannot communicate or delegate. yes ive come across some exceptional managers, but the vast majority have the same "danda kai zor par" approach of the OP.

clearly all the skilled managers get their visas, go to the US or wherever and leave the useless ones to mire the country in their lack of productivity.

In the West unless you have a certain skills, you are in modern day slavery. People here work 5/6 days a week until 66 years of age, paying off mortgages, loans etc, grow old and then not long after die. While helping the rich become richer.

People should work hard for 20 years max, save enough money to retire by 50 and enjoy their life.

 

[ElRaja]

In the West unless you have a certain skills, you are in modern day slavery. People here work 5/6 days a week until 66 years of age, paying off mortgages, loans etc, grow old and then not long after die. While helping the rich become richer.

People should work hard for 20 years max, save enough money to retire by 50 and enjoy their life.

increasingly impossible now, the hamster wheel is relentless unless you move to somewhere that is far cheaper to live and part time remote work, you climb the corporate ladder usually late 50s, or end up working for yourself. add in desi lifestyle, dependents, etc, good luck.

 

[KingKhanWC]

increasingly impossible now, the hamster wheel is relentless unless you move to somewhere that is far cheaper to live and part time remote work, you climb the corporate ladder usually late 50s, or end up working for yourself. add in desi lifestyle, dependents, etc, good luck.

Now in the 2020's onwards the modern day slavery has really taken off. Its not possible for most families to only have one partner working, the mother has to work too , leaving the child to strangers/carers etc. This is turn is changing the family structure, increasing divorce rates, etc. The wages are low compared to 30 years ago. The house prices are very high, its near impossible for young people to buy their own house at 21 unless they are being paid a six figure sum yearly.

 

[ElRaja]

Now in the 2020's onwards the modern day slavery has really taken off. Its not possible for most families to only have one partner working, the mother has to work too , leaving the child to strangers/carers etc. This is turn is changing the family structure, increasing divorce rates, etc. The wages are low compared to 30 years ago. The house prices are very high, its near impossible for young people to buy their own house at 21 unless they are being paid a six figure sum yearly.

yep, and the generation who benefitted sat on their money, entrepreneurialism is dead in this country, and knowing even if you work hard and get an above average salary you wont get out of the rat race means a lot of people are just not motivated, young people especially just dont see how its worth it, esp after £50k in uni debt. i left uni with £15k in debt and the chunk it used to take out of my salary annoyed me.

financialisation and globalisation has stuffed europe, no new european or British company will ever be able to compete with startups from the USA or China. and if it does it'll get bought out.

 

[Major]

Its a sad reality that such things happen in the subcontinent which is why life sucks in our part of the world. Here they make you work 9 hours a day, basically your lunch break is your own time, so its not added in the 8 hours, they make you work 9 to compensate that lunch hour... And than pay you peanuts.

Some organizations make you do saturdays aswell. Its because of no laws that protect the workers here. Lousy system.

The better paying ones are the call centers that are scamming people overseas.

 

[Hitman]

8 hours a day.

I believe brother Joshila is a lawyer.

No, he is a doctor.

 

[pillionrider]

How can this guy use the word 'productivity' and also expect people to put in 12-hour shifts. I remember him a couple decades back being critical of people staying back at office in the evenings.

There seems a concerted effort in India to turn our people into some kind of donkeys to feed Modi and Adani's pockets.

Don't worry though. We have Rahulg to counter them

 

[Hitman]

How can this guy use the word 'productivity' and also expect people to put in 12-hour shifts. I remember him a couple decades back being critical of people staying back at office in the evenings.

There seems a concerted effort in India to turn our people into some kind of donkeys to feed Modi and Adani's pockets.

Don't worry though. We have Rahulg to counter them

That is exactly what I thought straight away. He was advising bachelor men to refrain from staying back in office after work hours.

 

[sindhiboy]

chameera very unlucky not ot get kohli out

 

[Varun]

77 years of age is Mr. Murthy.

He'll be gone in 15 years time if not less, and so will these ridiculous sentences. All into the dustbin of history.

 

[Saanji]

To deliver excellence there have to be sacrifices.
70 hrs work week for employees is wrong but for someone who wants to grow I think it's a good advise.

 

[sindhiboy]

lol i apologize, i mixed up my threads

As for Mr. Murthy's statement, i don't think working 70 hrs a week is feasible, maybe if you are starting early in your career.

Countries like Germany have proven ridiculous working hours aren't a must for an economy to prosper.

 

[gani999]

One cannot generalize a 70 hour working week across the board. It depends on one's situation.

If you are running your own startup business, you'll need to work more than 70 hours a week.

If you are working for a large corporate then it is not necessary, and can even be counterproductive.

Narayana Murthy is the typical schoolmaster businessman who believes that people should have no life apart from work and should be grumpy faced, working all the time.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

How can this guy use the word 'productivity' and also expect people to put in 12-hour shifts. I remember him a couple decades back being critical of people staying back at office in the evenings.

There seems a concerted effort in India to turn our people into some kind of donkeys to feed Modi and Adani's pockets.

Don't worry though. We have Rahulg to counter them

This guy wants slave labour, lol. Basically wants us to become the equivalent of sweatshops in South East Asia

At a time when we should all be looking to make less work hours more common across the world , you have "progressive" guys like Mr. Murthy extolling the virtues of "hard work" and "patriotism "

 

[Champ_Pal]

No one would work for that many hours for someone else's business. The motivation factor will be zero for most employees. You have to really think if the few thousand rupees a year is worth the extra 30 hours that you put in.

Money can buy a lot of things. But it cannot buy is time.

 

[Mockingbird]

I have worked many 70 hour weeks when I newly started out of college, but surely it is not sustainable over a period. Traffic is a major concern in many Indian cities - to work that kind of hours and then travel back and forth will suck everything out of you. Also gone are the days when you worked and your wife managed everything at home- with dual careers you just can’t let your kids be brought up by grandparents/nannies.

 

[JaDed]

In the West unless you have a certain skills, you are in modern day slavery. People here work 5/6 days a week until 66 years of age, paying off mortgages, loans etc, grow old and then not long after die. While helping the rich become richer.

People should work hard for 20 years max, save enough money to retire by 50 and enjoy their life.

English are the worst managers I have worked with ,Germans Americans are the best.
English managers had no vision, Good Indian managers are in US and Aus for sure.

 

[JaDed]

No one would work for that many hours for someone else's business. The motivation factor will be zero for most employees. You have to really think if the few thousand rupees a year is worth the extra 30 hours that you put in.

Money can buy a lot of things. But it cannot buy is time.

Its not that, its just about getting out of middle class, that was my motivation.
And IT was the only way in non corruption and legal way to make money for me back in 2010s .. there are many ways now that I see but back then I just couldn’t.

 

[JaDed]

lol i apologize, i mixed up my threads

As for Mr. Murthy's statement, i don't think working 70 hrs a week is feasible, maybe if you are starting early in your career.

Countries like Germany have proven ridiculous working hours aren't a must for an economy to prosper.

Germans have worked for years to come to this level.. years of hard work along with best education.
German education is easily top 10 and has been for 5-6 centuries now,

Germans cannot be compared to anyone except maybe Japanese Skoreans..

Also the resource per capita debate is very valid here, India doesn’t have enough resources for its population, so ambition and supply and many factors come in.

 

[JaDed]

This guy wants slave labour, lol. Basically wants us to become the equivalent of sweatshops in South East Asia

At a time when we should all be looking to make less work hours more common across the world , you have "progressive" guys like Mr. Murthy extolling the virtues of "hard work" and "patriotism "

Quality work should not be confused with less work. Germans in IT actually work perfect 8 hrs, even they are taking a break they work 9 to compensate for that 8.

Gen Z is absolutely ludicrous to think that and we shouldn’t enable that.

 

[JaDed]

I think this is how it should be:

If you are qualified enough to work on projects from day1 after graduation you shouldn’t work 70 hrs to gain those skills for any employer, it should be based on your understanding and love not as a push from employer.

But if you aren’t (and we all know ourselves better so we should know if we can make an entire project in college last year by ourselves) than we should defn stop playing victim and own up and work to learn on the job.

 

[KingKhanWC]

English are the worst managers I have worked with ,Germans Americans are the best.
English managers had no vision, Good Indian managers are in US and Aus for sure.

I agree, ,most have climbed the ladder via bootlicking not due to merit.

One of the reasons the UK is in serious decline.

 

[Vikram1989]

English are the worst managers I have worked with ,Germans Americans are the best.
English managers had no vision, Good Indian managers are in US and Aus for sure.

I think Chinese managers are the worst .they are hawkish and don't trust anyone .it will be pure politics and no trust.

 

[Vikram1989]

I agree, ,most have climbed the ladder via bootlicking not due to merit.

One of the reasons the UK is in serious decline.

Is it bootlicking or racism.In Australia atleastin management, I can see English people will give preference to either British or Ireland. In worst case they will opt for other white people.thereafter Turkish and at the end sub continent. They are fine with sub continent people in technical areas but not in management.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Ki

8 hours a day.

I believe brother Joshila is a lawyer.

He is a lawyer who acts like a judge.

 

[happydavy]

Mr. Murthy said it right and no he didn't mean that Infosys want it's folks to work 70 hours a week. His shareholding in Infosys is 0.45%, another 2% including his family members. Nothing great or bad that happens at Infosys will move his networth much. He is absolutely correct that as a developing country, we have to work harder than developed world. And all of you who are in 20s, you are welcome to work 40 hours a week but don't complain that you aren't rich enough when you are in 50s. To become expert in any field, one gotta work long hours. To become a star doctor or a star sportsperson or a star entrepreneur, you have to work 15 hours a day for 15 years of your life. There is no short cut to glory. A developing country like India can't compare lifestyle to Germany or US, which have already reached the level of prosperity that we aspire to be.

 

[MP2011]

NRN has gone senile. Not too long back, he had an almighty sook against Kareena for not noticing him while being on a LHR bound flight.

Just because he was instrumental in raising one of our finest pvt sector IT firms along with Nandan and Mohandas Pai, his every word should not be taken as gospel's truth.

 

[IndoorCricket]

Karnataka’s 14-hour work proposal: What does working for 70 hours a week do to the body?​

Karnataka techies are fuming. After a huge uproar over the state government’s proposal to reserve jobs for locals in private industries, another proposal has got them angry. The Karnataka government is now mulling a 14-hour working day for techies.

The Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led government has so far not said anything on the issue.

But the move, which has been dubbed by some as the “biggest ever attack on the working class in this era”, also prompts the question: how much work is too much? And what do extended hours of working mean for a person’s physical and mental well-being?

What is the new proposal in Karnataka?

Reports state that the government is looking to amend the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act to enable employees to work for 14 hours a day, amounting to 70 hours a week if it’s a five-day working week.

According to Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees’ Union (KITU), this change if implemented would have the biggest impact on Bengaluru — known as the IT hub of the country.

KITU, opposing the amendment, said it poses an “attack on the basic right of any worker to have a personal life”. It further pointed out that this move comes at a period when the world has started to accept the fact that increased working hours are negatively impacting productivity and more countries are coming with new legislations to accept the “ right to disconnect” as a basic right of any employee.

How many hours of work is too much?

The Karnataka government’s move once again puts the focus on what is the right amount of hours to work. While some CEOs and workers would point out that longer hours mean more productivity, scientific research has proved otherwise.

One study has shown that the ideal number of hours to work is 7.6 hours a day — which comes up to 38 hours a week. Another research shows that five hours is about the maximum that most of us can concentrate hard at work. That means a 25-hour working week.

Karnataka’s 14-hour work proposal: What does working for 70 hours a week do to the body?

The Karnataka state government has proposed a move to increase the work hours for techies to 14 hours a day, amounting to 70 hours a week. But what impact can this have on the body and mind?

www.firstpost.com

 

[IndoorCricket]

Karnataka has gone mad. Worst traffic already, IT employees suffering form so many ailments. Working 14 hours + traffic is modern day slavery. Now they must be salivating over this. Time to move to other IT hubs in India.

 

[IndoorCricket]

When most of the world is trying out 4 day work week. Karnataka is going backwards.

 

[CricketCartoons]

When most of the world is trying out 4 day work week. Karnataka is going backwards.

Most of the developed world. Doesn't apply to India. If you want to work for 4 days, there are hundreds ready to work for 6 days at less than your pay. Indians cannot escape from this reality.

So focus on work which is hard to be replaced.

I have worked for 80 hours per week, except since a year when I quit working. One generation has to work very hard so that others don't have to.

 

[IndoorCricket]

Most of the developed world. Doesn't apply to India. If you want to work for 4 days, there are hundreds ready to work for 6 days at less than your pay. Indians cannot escape from this reality.

So focus on work which is hard to be replaced.

I have worked for 80 hours per week, except since a year when I quit working. One generation has to work very hard so that others don't have to.

70 hours a day for 3 lakhs salary each year is slavery. Unless you have a stake in the company it doesn't make sense at all. If there is an hourly pay I might agree. Working 70-80 hours is nothing to be proud of. I can understand there might be some situations where you might need to step up. If one person works 14 hours in office and 3 hours in traffic. Then there is no time to upskill, rest and even sleep. Youth are falling dead because of stress. Its possible to concentrate max 6-7 hours at full throttle. Japan also works 70 hours a week and they are a developed nation. This will set a wrong precedent.

 

[CricketCartoons]

70 hours a day for 3 lakhs salary each year is slavery. Unless you have a stake in the company it doesn't make sense at all. If there is an hourly pay I might agree. Working 70-80 hours is nothing to be proud of. I can understand there might be some situations where you might need to step up. If one person works 14 hours in office and 3 hours in traffic. Then there is no time to upskill, rest and even sleep. Youth are falling dead because of stress. Its possible to concentrate max 6-7 hours at full throttle. Japan also works 70 hours a week and they are a developed nation. This will set a wrong precedent.

Doctors are doing fellowships working 7 days a week for as little as 20k per month. You cannot do anything where there are many ready to replace you.

I am from a college which was ranked number 1 in engineering for many years (don't know the ranking now) and there are over 100 people of my skillset in just my city. Companies would not hire me because they can get someone cheaper. Even when I quote my lowest, it is still expensive for them.

 

[IndoorCricket]

Doctors are doing fellowships working 7 days a week for as little as 20k per month. You cannot do anything where there are many ready to replace you.

I am from a college which was ranked number 1 in engineering for many years (don't know the ranking now) and there are over 100 people of my skillset in just my city. Companies would not hire me because they can get someone cheaper. Even when I quote my lowest, it is still expensive for them.

There should be more doctors working in shifts rather than overburdening them. I have utmost respect to doctors as they chose that life voluntarily. Health is non-negotiable and doctors are always in demand. Cant compare stress of being a doctor to IT folks but IT folks can lose their job on a whim for any number of reasons which are not in their control.

I agree that competition is neck tight in India but its not only in IT sector. When I gave interviews for Indian branches of few IT companies those interviews are generally tough compared to the interviews for remote positions with better package and work.

But this also what companies are saying

80% of Indian engineers not fit for jobs, says survey

The new Annual Employability Survey 2019 report by Aspiring Minds reveals that 80% of Indian engineers are not fit for any job in the knowledge economy and only 2.5% of them possess tech skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI) that industry requires.

www.businesstoday.in

The only way out I see is ditch the IT consulting services and chose a product company or start on their own. IT consulting is torture for the soul.