Rajiv Bajaj criticises rigid work hours; advocates for speed and employee empowerment amid L&T chairman’s ‘90 hour work week’ controversy

Bajaj also criticised the notion of strict working hours, labelling them as “archaic and regressive policies.” He recounted a conversation with a colleague who said, “The problem here is that the people at the frontline have all the information but none of the authority. And guys like you have all the authority, but almost none of the information.”

Bajaj concluded by stressing that organisations should be open to hearing these insights, suggesting that it’s crucial for companies to act faster by trusting employees and not taking these observations personally. “Now, we must be able to take this on board without taking it personally and do something about it. So, companies can act more speedily,” he said.

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‘Companies must move away from regressive policies like a fixed number of working hours’, says @_bajaj_auto_ltd MD Rajiv Bajaj as he weighs in on the 90-hour work week debate. #Watch#90hourworkweek #90hours #70hourworkweek #larsenandtoubro #rajivbajaj #bajajauto #narayanamurthy… pic.twitter.com/e9c340OatJ

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) January 10, 2025

Bajaj’s comments come shortly after Subrahmanyan ignited controversy online with remarks about pushing employees to work 90 hours a week, including Sundays, to stay competitive. When asked about L&T’s requirement for employees to work on Saturdays, Subrahmanyan said, “I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays, to be honest. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy, because I work on Sundays also.” The video of the address, which went viral and led to a backlash online, also showed Subrahmanyan saying, “How long can you stare at your wife?” as he motivated staff to spend less time at home and more at work.

Last year, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy had sparked a similar backlash when he suggested youth in the country should work 70 hours every week to ensure India “becomes number one”. Ola Cabs CEO Bhavish Aggarwal, later, backed Murthy saying he works 20 hours a day, all seven days. He also said he doesn’t believe in the concept of work-life-balance, and called five-day workweeks, with Saturdays and Sundays as offs, are a “Western import”.