Hard work is necessary for prosperity," says the former CFO of Infosys, endorsing Narayana Murthy's 70-hour workweek recommendation

 Hard work is necessary for prosperity," says the former CFO of Infosys, endorsing Narayana Murthy's 70-hour workweek recommendation

On the X platform, co-founder of Infosys N R Narayana Murthy's remarks on working hours have caused a little commotion. In an attempt to increase the nation's production, Murthy asked young people to work seventy hours a week on a podcast last week.

His words caused division among the elite service class and business tycoons. There was mixed reaction to Murthy's seeming promotion of a "overwork culture"; some applauded them for their efforts to inspire the younger generation to take action.

In support of Murthy's assertion, former CFO of Infosys, Mohandas Pai, has provided information on the number of hours worked by urban males in each state. According to Pai, "Data shows that prosperity requires hard work."

The chart that Mohandas Pai published shows that 61.6 hours are worked a week on average in India. With 78.6 hours worked per week, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu had the most working hours, while Nagaland (46.8) and Manipur (46.9) had some of the lowest. The data originates from the 2019 Time Use Survey conducted by the Indian government.

Notably, Murthy and Pai had only discussed a 70-hour work week in the first podcast episode of 3one4 Capital.

Business magnates endorsing Narayana Murthy Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola Cabs, and Sajjan Jindal, CEO of JSW, praised Murthy's remarks, stating they demonstrate his commitment to moving India forward.

I completely agree with Mr. Murthy's opinions. We shouldn't be using this opportunity to relax and work less. Instead, this is our chance to fully commit and create in a single generation what other nations have taken many decades to create," Aggarwal said.

JSW Group chairman Jindal commented, "I fully support Mr. Narayan Murthy's assertion. It's devotion that matters, not exhaustion. In India 2047, we have to turn it into an economic powerhouse in which we can all take pride. A country the size of ours that is quickly expanding does not require a 5-day workweek culture.

Business moguls oppose a workweek of seventy hours

Divergent opinions were, however, voiced by Hi-COM's Sukhbir Singh Bhatia, Edelweiss Mutual Fund president and chief executive officer Radhika Gupta, upGrad's Ronnie Screwvala, as well as Marico Chairman Harsh Mariwala.

Screwvala tweeted, "Increasing production requires more than simply putting in more hours. It all comes down to upskilling, creating a happy work atmosphere, and being paid fairly for the task you do. "Work quality is more important than logging more hours."

The CEO of internet service provider Hi-COM Network, Sukhbir Singh Bhatia, said that it's critical to realize that a motivated staff with enough sleep may be more productive.

"Adopting a work-life balanced culture promotes innovation, creativity, overall employee satisfaction — all of which constitute significant success factors," Bhatia said.

The CEO of Edelweiss, Gupta, made the observation that although many Indian women have been working more hours per week in an effort to "build India," no one has been discussing their efforts.

Many Indian women have been putting in much more than seventy-hour work weeks between their homes and workplaces in order to develop both India (by our labor) and the future generation of Indians (our children). years and perhaps decades. Grinning and without requesting more work. Ironically, nobody has engaged in a Twitter argument about us," tweeted Radhika Gupta.

Harsh Mariwala, Chairman of Marico Group, said that while perseverance is essential for success, quality and enthusiasm must also come first.

See also: Marico chairman argues the "ultimate objective should be" in contrast to Narayana Murthy's proposed "70-hour work week."

"The ultimate objective should be to make working so invigorating and gratifying that the paradigm of work-life balance smoothly integrates," Mariwala said.