Social media is a great platform to present your thoughts. Hence, it is essential to make remarks or statements carefully, otherwise, you can end up putting yourself in trouble. Something similar is happening with the former CEO of Infosys, N. R. Narayana Murthy who took social media by storm after sharing his thoughts on the working hours of employees. He states that youngsters need to work for 70 hours a week. Ever since his statement came forth, netizens have criticized him and shared their thoughts on it. Not only netizens but many top entrepreneurs are remarking too and sharing their perspectives, however, there are some people who are in favour of his statement.
This controversy started after the podcast release of the former Infosys CFO in which the former CEO shared his advice to youngsters regarding working hours. Mr Pai has shared data which he labeled as “Interesting Data”. He states that this data talks about how many hours each week urban men between the age group of 15 and 59 work. While addressing the question or data, the Former CEO of Infosys stated “It is my request that our youngsters must say this is my country. I would like to work 70 hours a week.” Since then a debate has been started online and now CureFit founder Mukesh Bansal made his remark on it.
Bansal sparked a new conversation related to this matter. CureFit founder believes that it is not right to demand such long hours from employees whether they are youngsters or aged employees, especially without giving proportional compensation. He made the statement in his LinkedIn post in which he states that ” Companies demanding 70 hours per week also create proportional upside. You can not ask for 70 hours of work at 40 hours salary. That is right and unethical”. However, many top entrepreneurs support the statement or advice of Murthy like Marico Chairman Harsh Mariwala and JSW Group CMD Sajjan Jindal. Apart from it. co-founder of Myntra, Bansal believes that the decision to work for long hours totally depends on employees rather than forcing on them.
Bansal states that apart from working life, every individual has their own personal life as well. Hence, career, family, peace of mind, and health are important for everyone, and people should prioritize things according to their personal circumstances. He also shared his experience to support his statement as he said that he willingly worked for long hours in Silicon Valley as work is his passion and he enjoyed doing it. Again it was or is my personal choice or preference that I had worked for long hours but it does not mean that we should force this thing on our employees. However, he contested the notion that working for long hours does not mean that it leads to increased productivity.
Furthermore, he motivated people to focus their attention on being effective when they are working rather than worthlessly giving extra time or work during their office/working hours. His statement points out the need for a healthy work-life balance. It does not mean that one should compromise their work and start neglecting it. Myntra’s Co-founder states that he understands the importance of hard work and dedication but it is also important to prioritize giving time to your family, health and personal lives too.
