Measurements of effect should be made rather than thoughts of working seventy hours: Sandhya Devanathan from Meta

 Measurements of effect should be made rather than thoughts of working seventy hours: Sandhya Devanathan from Meta  

Devanathan also said that women's involvement is crucial for India to become a $5 trillion economy, and that we need to provide the proper support mechanisms to assist them equally.

Sandhya Devanathan, VP and MD of Meta India, emphasized that firms should focus on quantifying the effect of the job completed rather than obsessing about working 70 hours a week. She also emphasized the need of creating a system that takes into account the needs of both men and women who look after young families. Her words coincided with the intense controversy and discussion that followed Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy's remarks about a seventy-hour workday a few days before.

"As a company, we have been working on the policies to provide parents with maternity and paternity leaves, mourning leaves, and other benefits in the event of a miscarriage to support them," Devanathan said in a speech at CNBC-TV18's India Business Leader Awards (IBLA). We support hybrid work as well. Impact is measured at Meta in terms of the products or services we provide. Therefore, I don't believe that the amount of hours matters. I am happy that I stayed on as a young mother, and that my employer at the time provided me with the necessary policies to help me. We need to gauge that instead of considering 70 hours of labor.

Additionally, she said that women's involvement in the workforce is crucial to India's goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy, and this can only be achieved by creating the necessary support structures.

She went on, "I'm not saying that 70 hours is good or bad, but the system needs to work for everyone, including men and women who are taking care of young families, and not just looking at it from a work lens."

This occurs at a time when a number of corporate moguls and startup entrepreneurs, like Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola, Kunal Shah of Cred, and Sajjan Jindal of JSW, have backed Murthy's recent remarks. Murthy has said that in order for India to compete with countries that have advanced significantly over the last two to three decades, young people must work seventy hours a week.

Meta's Prospect in India

In terms of business, Meta is placing a significant wager on the India potential and approaching its operations via a "India-first" perspective. At the moment, the internet giant prioritizes the India market, thus the business plans to start by monetizing it to promote the expansion of WhatsApp Business.

Platforms like UPI, ONDC, open credit, and the whole Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), which India is exporting, would alter the game not just for the nation but also for the world, according to Devanathan.

Regarding digital governance for India and the part that it may play internationally, she predicted a significant wave.

She also emphasized the human capital that exists in India, which is motivating Meta to seize this chance even more.

We are the second-biggest developer base in the world, and we will shortly overtake the largest, she said. A Stanford study published this week claimed that India has a large pool of skilled AI workers and is at the forefront of the field's worldwide contributions. According to statistics, 17% of the world's AI talent hails from India.

"As a corporation, we have also increased our efforts in this area. For Llama 2, we are open sourcing. We're witnessing a rather large wave here. Among our biggest user markets worldwide is India. Not only are Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities experiencing a digital transformation and innovation surge, but so are larger cities. In addition, she expressed excitement about the prospects for small enterprises nationwide, as they would be able to benefit from 5G connection and ride the wave of digital transformation, which will alter the consumption habits of all citizens.

According to Devanathan, Meta's worldwide teams have specialized product teams operating out of India and are actively observing customer behavior in the country. In fact, a few teams from Meta are spending two weeks in India right now to learn more about the shift in consumer behavior.