The 90-hr/week road to nirvana

India needs better work environment, not longer hours, to succeed as a nation

Alok Tiwari

Larsen & Toubro CEO S N Subrahmanyan got more than he bargained for when he voiced support for employees working for 90-hour per week including on Sundays. He thus became second business honcho after Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy to call for employees to work much harder. His undated video released on social media drew instant backlash. Internet in India is flooded with memes. Now, some of it can be cruel. After all, context is important which is missing from Subramanyan’s remark. It could be an off-the-cuff remark or made is jest. It is definitely not the policy of L&T to make people work that long (it would be illegal if it were).

However, the trolling of Narayana Murthy then and Subrahmanyan now does reflect the frustration and anger the ordinary employees in India feel at what the statements of both imply. Both are respected captains of important industries in the country. Infosys is one of the biggest IT services companies of India while L&T is an engineering behemoth. Both executives linked their desire to see employees work more for faster and better nation building.

It is here I take issues with them. It appears both believe employee sloth is a factor in India not being on top of the world, a vishwaguru, if you like. It shows not only a simplistic understanding of the way countries are built but also a very flawed one. They blame people not working hard enough, not the country’s history, not its place in the world pecking order, not the level of literacy, not the geographical size and size of population, not the mediocre education system, not the misguided economic policies that thwart innovation, not the disruptive and divisive politics, not corruption, not the poor civic services, not the rundown infrastructure.

This long laundry list is important because each of the items on it has a bearing on productivity of people. How well the country is doing in each area determines where it stands in the world. I do not for a moment believe that both gentlemen do not understand this with their exposure and their experience. Neither of them has said much about these and several other obstacles to faster and better nation building, which is understandable. Just talking about these would require them to turn into an activist and not the business leaders that they are. That, in today’s India, might invite government rebuke if not a jail term. But their silence on these also makes their opinion dishonest.

Let us just focus on the workplace though. Do people in India really work less than they ought to? That is not the observation any place you look. There could be some sections (government employees are perennial whipping boys) where this is true but at most places people put in more than an honest day’s work, be they humble construction workers, gig workers, or people in companies like Infosys and L&T. In fact, many of them might already be putting in the 70- or 90-hour work week if long commutes in most major Indian cities are considered.

Less said the better about the difficult or even hostile work environment that can exist in many Indian companies. There have been reports of employees quitting and, in some cases, ending their life over these conditions. Many managers tend to believe that being a hard-driving, foul-mouthed boss is what get results. Also, they tend not to respect the boundary between official and personal time of employees, so quite a lot of personal time also gets spent in answering phone calls and responding to mails. Indians who go abroad point out to this major cultural difference.

I haven’t seen any industry leader ever talk about impossible targets being set or shaming and abuse of employees during online or offline meetings that happens as a factor affecting productivity or an obstacle on the road to nation building. I am sure the managers too suffer the same from their managers and it goes all the way to the top. Harassment, sexism, abuse, and even casteism exist in Indian workplace. Some enlightened companies are addressing them, but not to the extent needed. The exhortations to work more would sound more honest and just if these aspects were also addressed.

Finally, the goal of nation building itself needs to be addressed. Subrahmanyan quoted example of China which, in his view, is the new world top gun having replaced the US purely based on its people putting in 90-hour work week. I don’t think both the nations are very good role models. Forget our ability for a moment, but do we even wish to be the next US or China? US has been the world’s policeman for a long time with not a very good report card to show for it. It has meddled in conflicts around the world from Korea to Iraq to Afghanistan to Libya to its own backyard in South America and often left devastation in its wake.

Since its meteoric rise as an economic superpower over the last three decades, China has become a new hegemon having trouble with virtually all its neighbours including India. It is still in the medieval mindset of expanding territory and is not shy of using its military muscle. Both US and China continue to rapaciously exploit the environment and are top two polluters. One is fountainhead of crony capitalism and other is an autocracy.

Why don’t we look at countries having a more benign influence on world affairs, like Sweden, or Finland, or New Zealand, or even our neighbour Bhutan? These and many other countries have improved lives of their people without being a menace to others. How long folks in these countries work? What is the recipe of their success? It is infinitely better to have happy, prosperous, free society at home instead of having an intimidating military and a finger in every pie. A penny for the thoughts of Messrs Subrahmanyan and Narayana Murthy on this.

This column appeared in Lokmat Times on Jan 15, 2025