Anger over Indian corporate leader’s call for 7-day work week: ‘more dangerous than Covid’

Published: 10:05pm, 14 Jan 2025Updated: 10:08pm, 14 Jan 2025

Indian corporate titan S.N. Subrahmanyan has provoked outrage by championing a seven-day work week and holding up Chinese professionals’ gruelling schedules as a benchmark, reigniting fierce debates about India’s culture of overwork and the future of productivity.

Advertisement

Subrahmanyan, chairman of the conglomerate Larsen & Toubro, was filmed in an undated video that surfaced on January 10 asking employees, “How long can you stare at your wife?” as part of a call for professionals to spend less time at home.

He went on to praise Chinese workers for their commitment, claiming they “work 90 hours a week”, while contrasting them with Americans, who he said “work only 50 hours a week”.

“If you have got to be on top of the world, you have to work 90 hours a week,” he added.

Co-founder of Infosys, Narayana Murthy, at a company event in Bengaluru in 2019. Photo: AFP
Co-founder of Infosys, Narayana Murthy, at a company event in Bengaluru in 2019. Photo: AFP

Subrahmanyan’s remarks come about a year after tech titan Narayana Murthy ignited a debate about the country’s work culture by calling on young people to work for 70 hours a week to advance the country’s industrial development.

Advertisement

  

Read More

Leave a Reply