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Journalism of Courage
Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy’s comment that youngsters should work 70 hours a week if India wants to compete with countries that have made tremendous progress in the last two to three decades has sparked a debate on social media.
Murthy appeared on the first episode of 3one4 Capital’s podcast ‘The Record’ where he made the remarks during a conversation with former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai. Murthy said India’s work productivity is among the lowest in the world. He added that in order to compete with countries like China, the country’s youngsters must put in extra hours of work – like Japan and Germany did after World War 2.
Bhavish Aggarwal, the CEO and co-founder of Ola Cabs, agreed with Murthy. “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!” he wrote on X.
However, a majority of netizens did not agree with Aggarwal’s views. “Overwork gave me a Heart Attack at 38. And a lifetime dependency on medicines! Pls don’t listen to these people. Bloodsucking leeches who sit on their high chairs giving lectures,” a user wrote.
“Surprise! Surprise! Billionaires agree to have cheap labor and long working hours (in other words, low-cost slaves)! They are probably praying for even worse job market to make this a reality!” said another.
“Let’s not normalize slavery. Work 20 or 25 hours a day if it is your own enterprise. Don’t expect your employees to emulate you. Is it so tough to grasp that work-life balance creates a happier/healthier society? Also, these draconian views will cut out women from employment,” another person wrote.
Murthy, 77, had made a similar request in 2020 when he asked professionals to work 60 hours a week for the next two to three years to revive the post-pandemic economy.
