Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram has taken a dig at Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy for saying that he was “disappointed” with India’s shift from a six-day workweek to a five-day workweek in 1986.

Mr Murthy has repeatedly called for a 70-hour workweek, saying that India’s development requires sacrifice, not relaxation.

Speaking at an event last month, Mr Murthy had drawn attention to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 100-hour workweeks.

“When PM Modi is working that hard, the only way to show our appreciation for what’s happening around us is by working just as hard,” he said.

The 78-year-old also shared personal insights into his work ethic, revealing that throughout much of his career, he maintained an intense schedule of 14-hour days, six and a half days a week. He would arrive at the office by 6:30 am and leave at around 8:40 pm. “I’m proud of it,” he said.

ALSO READ | Ola CEO Calls For 70-Hour Workweek, Doctor Warns Of Premature Death Risk

Mr Chidambaram, however, differed with Mr Murthy, saying working longer was “meaningless” and the focus should be on “efficiency”.

“Daily life is as it is a struggle, battling inefficient and substandard infrastructure and amenities. Work-life balance is most important for good social order and harmony,” he wrote on X on Sunday.

He also said that India should in fact move to a 4-day working week.

“12 noon on Monday to 2 pm on Friday,” the Congress MP said.

Working longer is meaningless, focus should be on efficiency. Daily life is as it is a struggle, battling inefficient & substandard infrastructure & amenities. Work life balance is most important for good social order & harmony. We should infact move to a 4 day working week. 12… https://t.co/EOOer6AgnK

— Karti P Chidambaram (@KartiPC) December 22, 2024

Mr Chidambaram’s comments came days after his party colleague, Gaurav Gogoi, also disagreed with the tech tycoon’s statement supporting long working hours.

Taking to his official handle on X on December 4, Mr Gogoi posted, “I also disagree with the view of Narayan Murthy on work-life balance. After all, what is life but looking after your children, cooking for them, teaching them, taking care of your elderly parents, being there for your friends in their times of need, and making sure that your house in order. The above is just as much a man’s job as it is a woman’s.”

“Traditionally working women don’t even have the choice to cut away life from work. It is a luxury that traditionally men have and one that they have to forego in the modern world,” he added.

Narayana Murthy On Why He Wants 70-Hour Workweek

Narayana Murthy, earlier this month, defended his 70-hour workweek comment. He said young people have to realise that “we have to work hard and work towards making India number one.”

“At Infosys, I said we will go to the best and compare ourselves with the best global companies. Once we compare ourselves with the best global companies, I can tell you we Indians have a lot to do. We have to set our aspirations high because 800 million Indians get free ration. That means 800 million Indians are in poverty. If we are not in a position to work hard, then who will work hard?” Mr Murthy said at an event while speaking to RPSG Group chairman Sanjiv Goenka.

“A gentleman here told me a Chinese worker is 3.5 times more productive than an Indian. It is very easy for us to write all kinds of nonsense and remain wretched, filthy, poor and shunned by the world. Therefore, I don’t think we should say we are all comfortable and I will not go to the office. My request to all the people assembled here is to dedicate their lives to realising their value,” the billionaire added.

Highlighting the urgency of climate action, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy warned that climate change poses a significant risk of mass migration to urban centres like Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad, as rising temperatures and extreme weather events force people to abandon their homes in less resilient areas.

Speaking at an event in Pune on Friday, Mr Murthy issued a stark warning about the effects of rising temperatures and shifting weather patterns. He cautioned that within the next 20-25 years, certain rural areas in India may become uninhabitable, potentially forcing millions to migrate to urban centres that are already struggling with modern-day challenges.

“What is likely to happen is that there will be a mass migration from rural parts of states… into habitable places like Bangalore, maybe Pune, maybe Hyderabad,” Murthy remarked during an award ceremony in Pune.

He further pointed out that Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad are grappling with their own issues, such as pollution and traffic congestion, making them increasingly difficult to live in. “These cities have become extremely challenging to live in, difficult to navigate, and have witnessed rising pollution levels. They are heading toward becoming unlivable,” Murthy warned.

Mr Murthy stressed the urgency of collaboration among the corporate sector, political leaders, and bureaucrats to address climate change and mitigate rural-to-urban migration. He highlighted the critical need for such cooperation to prevent India’s urban hubs from becoming overwhelmed by an influx of migrants, which would further strain their already burdened infrastructure.

“We in India, particularly the corporate sector, have to cooperate with politicians and bureaucrats and ensure that there is no mass migration,” Murthy was quoted as saying by The Economic Times.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Mr Murthy expressed optimism about India’s ability to tackle these challenges. While acknowledging that India often acts reactively, he conveyed confidence that by 2030, the country would achieve significant progress in meeting climate targets and addressing the migration crisis.

“I am optimistic that we will make progress by 2030,” Murthy added, reassuring the audience that with timely intervention and collective efforts, India could overcome these pressing issues.

India’s rapid urbanisation and population growth have already stretched cities to their limits. The anticipated influx of migrants driven by climate change could exacerbate existing challenges, intensifying shortages of infrastructure and resources.

Kolkata/New Delhi:

Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy has defended his 70-hour workweek comment, again. During a visit to Kolkata, which Mr Murthy described as “the most cultured place in the entire country”, he said young people have to realise that “we have to work hard and work towards making India number one.”

“At Infosys, I said we will go to the best and compare ourselves with the best global companies. Once we compare ourselves with the best global companies, I can tell you we Indians have a lot to do. We have to set our aspirations high because 800 million Indians get free ration. That means 800 million Indians are in poverty. If we are not in a position to work hard, then who will work hard?” Mr Murthy said at the Indian Chamber of Commerce centenary launch. He was speaking to RPSG Group chairman Sanjiv Goenka.

Recalling the experiences that motivated him to become an entrepreneur, Mr Murthy said he was at one point a Leftist, when Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister and the Indian Institutes of Technology were made into a reality.

“My father used to talk about the extraordinary progress that was happening in the country at the time and we were all sold on Nehru and socialism. I had the opportunity to work in Paris in the early 70s and I was confused. The West was talking about how filthy and corrupt India was. In my country there was poverty and the roads had potholes.

“There (West), everyone was reasonably prosperous and trains ran on time and I thought this can’t be wrong. I met the leader of the French Communist Party and he answered all my questions, but not to my satisfaction.

“I realised the only way a country can fight poverty is by creating jobs that lead to disposable incomes. The government has absolutely no role in entrepreneurship. I also realised entrepreneurs build a nation as they create jobs, they create wealth for their investors and they pay taxes.

“Therefore, if a country embraces capitalism, it will create good roads, good trains and good infrastructure. In a poor country like India where capitalism had not taken roots, I realised if I had to come back and experiment in entrepreneurship, then we have to embrace compassionate capitalism,” Mr Murthy said.

He said he was always excited to come to Kolkata. “In some way, this is the most cultured place in the entire country. When I think of Kolkata, I think of Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray, Subhash Chandra Bose, Amartya Sen and a host of other personalities.”

“I am very proud of the culture of our country which goes over 4,000 years. It shows how unbelievably generous this culture was… Embrace compassionate capitalism. It is practising capitalism while combining it with the best aspects of liberalism and socialism so that this country stands steadily as a stellar example of capitalism,” Mr Murthy said.

“Human beings can think and express. When God has given us the ability to think and this behoves us to think about people less fortunate than us. It is to make sure that the rest of the world respects India. The rest of the world respects India for performance. Performance leads to recognition, recognition leads to respect, respect leads to power. I wanted youngsters to know that we have a greater responsibility to fulfil the vision of our founding fathers. That’s the reason why we all have to work hard.

“A gentleman here told me a Chinese worker is 3.5 times more productive than an Indian. It is very easy for us to write all kinds of nonsense and remain wretched, filthy and poor and shunned by the world. Therefore, I don’t think we should say we are all comfortable and I will not go to the office. My request to all the people assembled here is to dedicate their lives to realising their value,” the billionaire said.

Infosys founder Narayana Murthy
| Photo Credit: PTI

After Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy reignited debates on work-life balance, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Wednesday (December 4, 2024) responded and expressed his disagreement to the tech tycoon’s statement supporting grinding, relentless work hours — an ‘overwork culture.’

Gaurav Gogoi countered Narayana Murthy’s beliefs of work-life balance as an indulgent myth and highlighted the perspective where the traditional division of labor between men and women in the household is being challenged, in context to work-life balance. Mr. Gogoi shared his disagreement with Narayan Murthy’s view on work-life balance, who is known for his strong stance on the importance of work-life balance. Mr. Gaurav Gogoi suggested that the concept of a “work-life balance” is not as straightforward or achievable for everyone, especially women.

Taking to his official handle on X, Mr. Gogoi posted, “I also disagree with the view of Narayan Murthy on work-life balance. After all what is life but looking after your children, cooking for them, teaching them, taking care of your elderly parents, being there for your friends in their times of need, making sure that your house in order. The above is just as much a man’s job as it is a women’s.”

Mr. Gogoi describes life not only in terms of professional work but also as a combination of various personal responsibilities — raising children, caring for elderly parents, managing the household, and supporting friends. This paints a picture of life as a balancing act between multiple roles, all of which are demanding and require time and energy. Mr. Gogoi points to an egalitarian view where both men and women share the burden of maintaining the household and raising children.

His post further read, “Traditionally working women don’t even have the choice to cut away life from work. It is a luxury that traditionally men have and one that they have to forego in the modern world.” Mr. Gogoi suggests that in the modern world, men no longer have the same luxury of “cutting away life from work,” implying that both men and women are now required to manage work and life responsibilities more equally and that the concept of work-life balance is a challenge for everyone, not just women.

Mr. Gogoi calls for a more equitable sharing of all roles within the family and workplace. His response comes after a user on X shared an open letter to Narayana Murthy, respectfully disagreeing with his opinion on work-life balance. “I respectfully disagree with you sir on work-life balance. Employees are not slaves. Working longer hours doesn’t mean better productivity. Several countries have switched to a 4-day work week and are doing better. Women don’t have the luxury of working 70/80 hours a week either,” shared the user on X with an attachment of the letter.

Mr. Murthy at the CNBC Global Leadership Summit championed a 70-hour workweek as essential for India’s economic rise.”I don’t believe in work-life balance,” said Narayana Murthy, sparking debates on the subject. (ANI)

Prayagraj:

Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy on Sunday called the rising population a major challenge for the country, saying Indians had not paid attention to population control since the Emergency period.

Mr Murthy made the remark during the convocation ceremony of Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology in Prayagraj, where he was the chief guest.

“India faces significant challenges related to population, per capita land availability, and healthcare facilities,” he said.

“Since the Emergency period, we Indians have not paid enough attention to population control. This poses a risk of making our country unsustainable. In comparison, countries such as the US, Brazil and China have far higher per capita land availability,” he said.

Mr Murthy also emphasised that a true professional’s responsibility was to contribute to the nation’s progress.

“This contribution depends on having high aspirations, dreaming big and working hard to turn those dreams into reality,” the Infosys co-founder said.

“One generation must make many sacrifices to improve the lives of the next. My parents, siblings and teachers made significant sacrifices for my progress and my presence here as the chief guest is proof that their sacrifices were not in vain,” he said.

During the ceremony, 1,670 degrees were awarded. Postgraduate students received 34 gold medals while undergraduates received 13. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across industries worldwide has made tasks efficient and easier. And with that, there’s also been a growing concern about potential job losses to the technology. However, Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy believes the concern about AI replacing jobs is “overblown”.  

In a recent interview, Mr Murthy weighed in on AI’s potential to replace human jobs, particularly in coding. “The most powerful instrument ever invented by God is the human mind,” he told Moneycontrol.

Recalling the introduction of “case tools” in 1975, he said that many at the time thought it would replace human employment in software development. “It didn’t happen… When that technology of case tools and programme generators were invented,” adding that “those tools couldn’t handle” bigger and more complex problems.

Mr Murthy suggested focusing on how AI can “amplify” human labour, as per the outlet. The former Infosys CEO believes we should be able to “tame that beast and make it an assistive tool.” 

“I am a confirmed optimist regarding the role of technology in general and specifically in AI.”

It’s not the first time Mr Murthy has dismissed the notion that AI would replace human jobs. 

Even in February 2024, during a speech at the foundation day of the All India Management Association (AIMA), he said that while AI improves our lives, humans will always make sure it doesn’t dominate us. Mr Murthy said that the human mind remains superior to technology, always staying ahead. “Humans have the power of the mind,” he said, “no computer can compete with that.”

Phaneesh Murthy.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Digital transformation and technology consulting firm CriticalRiver Inc has roped in IT industry veterans Phaneesh Murthy as a senior executive advisory board member and Raju Reddy as an independent director on the board.

The company, which counts Fortune 100 and 500 companies among its customers, has also announced appointment of Narayana Murthy as executive vice president and global delivery head; and Sunil Sharma as global head of innovation and digital solutions.

The move is aimed at positioning itself for hyper growth and innovation. With decades of collective experience and proven track record of success in scaling businesses, Mr. Phaneesh Murthy and Mr. Reddy bring invaluable insights and strategic guidance, positioning the company for rapid expansion and market dominance, CriticalRiver said in a release on April 10.

“CriticalRiver is poised for an era of unparalleled growth and these strategic appointments underscore our commitment to excellence and innovation,” founder and CEO Anji Maram said.

Mr. Narayana Murthy has been at the forefront of enterprise transformation initiatives and led operations in offshore, onshore and nearshore capabilities. His global role is pivotal for bolstering the company’s delivery capabilities in the U.S., Australia, Qatar, India and UAE.

Besides spearheading pivotal digital transformation initiatives, Mr. Sharma serves as a visiting faculty member for executive education programmes at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, specialising in the field of digital transformation and data strategy, the company said.

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy
| Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR

Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy recently said that young Indians must work for 70 hours a week. The comment has been met with support from some and criticism from others. The comments were made in the first episode of a video series published by 3one4 Capital titled ‘The Record’.

Assuming a six-day work week, Mr. Murthy’s comment means that Indians would have to work 11.5 hours of work a day. How many hours does an average young Indian work at present? According to the Time Use Survey conducted in India in 2019, a person aged 15-29 spends over 7.2 hours a day in employment and related activities in rural areas and 8.5 hours a day in urban areas. A State-wise comparison of the time spent on work in urban areas, given that this figure is higher than in rural areas, is presented in Map 1. Urban Uttarakhand ranks first, with young people from the State working for an average of 9.6 hours a day, which is about two hours less than what Mr. Murthy envisions.

Map 1 | The map shows the average number of hours an urban Indian aged 15-29 spends in a day on employment and related activities

Charts appear incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode

Assuming that if people work for five days, they would have to work for 14 hours a day, a point to ponder is whether working more hours translates to better productivity. Mr. Murthy raises this point in the video series. “India’s work productivity is one of the lowest in the world. Unless we improve our work productivity… we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress,” he said.

He pointed to the examples of Germany and Japan to drive home this point. “You know this is exactly what the Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War… they made sure that every German worked extra hours for a certain number of years,” he said.

A comparison of annual working hours per worker and labour productivity in India, Germany and Japan is presented in Chart 2. The chart shows that the average annual working hours of Germans and the Japanese peaked after the war at about 2,200 hours to 2,400 hours a year — about 8.3 to 9 hours  a day during a five-day work week without holidays. This is still 2.5 hours less than what Mr. Murthy’s envisions.

Chart 2 | The chart shows the annual working hours per worker and productivity (GDP/hour worked) in $/hour.

More importantly, as labour productivity increased in Germany and Japan, two countries that were relatively more industrialised even before the Second World War, the average working hours reduced drastically to about 1,400-1,600 hours a year by 2020 (5.3 to 6 hours a day), as shown in Chart 2. Labour productivity is measured as GDP per hour of work. India’s average annual working hours stayed above 2,000 from 1970 to 2020, while the labour productivity increased marginally from $2 per hour to $9 in the same period. So, the question is, is it better to increase working hours or to increase productivity through technology?

This is because longer work hours translates into less time for sports and leisure. As shown in Chart 3, when compared to Germany and Japan, Indians spend less time on sports and other leisure activities. Indians spend more time sleeping and doing housework than the other two nations.

Chart 3 | The chart shows the average number of hours spent on various activities per day.

While opinions are divided over Mr. Murthy’s suggestion, it is imperative to ask whether India has enough statistical tools at its disposal to accurately measure labour productivity given that 89% of the workforce is engaged in informal employment compared to just 4.2% in Germany and about 8% in Japan (Chart 4). With such a drastic difference in the nature of the labour force among the three nations, do they make for a viable comparison?

Chart 4 | The chart shows the share of informal employment in the total workforce for the latest year with data (in %)

With inputs from Rebecca Rose Varghese

nihalani.j@thehindu.co.in and vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in

Source: Time Use Survey 2019, Our World In Data, International Labour Organization

Also read | Mental health and the floundering informal worker

Listen to our podcast | How Turkey’s economic and political trajectory compares to India | Data Point podcast

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy
| Photo Credit: Deepak KR

Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy recently said that young Indians must work for 70 hours a week. The comment has been met with support from some and criticism from others. The comments were made in the first episode of a video series published by 3one4 Capital titled ‘The Record’.

Also read | Why Narayana Murthy is wrong about the 70-hour work week 

Assuming a six-day work week, Mr. Murthy’s comment means that Indians would have to work 11.5 hours a day. How many hours does an average young Indian work at present? According to the Time Use Survey conducted in India in 2019, a person aged 15-29 spends over 7.2 hours a day in employment and related activities in rural areas and 8.5 hours a day in urban areas. A State-wise comparison of the time spent on work in urban areas, given that this figure is higher than in rural areas, is presented in Map 1. Urban Uttarakhand ranks first, with young people from the State working for an average of 9.6 hours a day, which is about two hours less than what Mr. Murthy envisions.

Map 1 | The map shows the average number of hours an urban Indian aged 15-29 spends in a day on employment and related activities

Charts appear incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode

Assuming that if people work for five days, they would have to work for 14 hours a day, a point to ponder is whether working more hours translates to better productivity. Mr. Murthy raises this point in the video series. “India’s work productivity is one of the lowest in the world. Unless we improve our work productivity… we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress,” he said.

He pointed to the examples of Germany and Japan to drive home this point. “You know this is exactly what the Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War… they made sure that every German worked extra hours for a certain number of years,” he said.

A comparison of annual working hours per worker and labour productivity in India, Germany and Japan is presented in Chart 2. The chart shows that the average annual working hours of Germans and the Japanese peaked after the war at about 2,200 hours to 2,400 hours a year — about 8.3 to 9 hours  a day during a five-day work week without holidays. This is still 2.5 hours less than what Mr. Murthy’s envisions.

Chart 2 | The chart shows the annual working hours per worker and productivity (GDP/hour worked) in $/hour.

More importantly, as labour productivity increased in Germany and Japan, two countries that were relatively more industrialised even before the Second World War, the average working hours reduced drastically to about 1,400-1,600 hours a year by 2020 (5.3 to 6 hours a day), as shown in Chart 2. Labour productivity is measured as GDP per hour of work. India’s average annual working hours stayed above 2,000 from 1970 to 2020, while the labour productivity increased marginally from $2 per hour to $9 in the same period. So, the question is, is it better to increase working hours or to increase productivity through technology?

This is because longer work hours translates into less time for sports and leisure. As shown in Chart 3, when compared to Germany and Japan, Indians spend less time on sports and other leisure activities. Indians spend more time sleeping and doing housework than the other two nations.

Chart 3 | The chart shows the average number of minutes spent on various activities per day.

While opinions are divided over Mr. Murthy’s suggestion, it is imperative to ask whether India has enough statistical tools at its disposal to accurately measure labour productivity given that 89% of the workforce is engaged in informal employment compared to just 4.2% in Germany and about 8% in Japan (Chart 4). With such a drastic difference in the nature of the labour force among the three nations, do they make for a viable comparison?

Chart 4 | The chart shows the share of informal employment in the total workforce for the latest year with data (in %)

With inputs from Rebecca Rose Varghese

nihalani.j@thehindu.co.in and vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in

Source: Time Use Survey 2019, Our World In Data, International Labour Organization

Also read | Mental health and the floundering informal worker

Listen to our podcast | How Turkey’s economic and political trajectory compares to India | Data Point podcast

Infosys founder Narayana Murthy recently suggested that India’s youth must work for 70 hours every week to boost the country’s overall work productivity and economy. This remark by the businessman created a stir online with a few people including JSW Chairman Sajjan Jindal supporting the idea while others also questioned the long-term health implications of having a work schedule consisting of unreasonable and extremely long working hours. Now, Edelweiss CEO and Managing Director Radhika Gupta weighed in on the matter and said that although Indian women have been working much more than 70 hours per week for decades, however, nobody has paid attention to that.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Ms Gupta said, “Between offices and homes, many Indian women have been working many more than seventy hour weeks to build India (through our work) and the next generation of Indians (our children). For years and decades. With a smile, and without a demand for overtime. Funnily, no one has debated about us on Twitter.”

Between offices and homes, many Indian women have been working many more than seventy hour weeks to build India (through our work) and the next generation of Indians (our children). For years and decades. With a smile, and without a demand for overtime.

Funnily, no one has…

— Radhika Gupta (@iRadhikaGupta) October 29, 2023

Since being shared, her post has amassed over 74,000 views. Many users reacted to her post. 

“Indian women’s tireless dedication deserves recognition,” said a user.

A second person added, “Very true. But imagine you work 70 hrs a week with all these other in house work for women. Women don’t get weekends off from house work,so there is no downtime or self care for them.”

“Even without office, women in India have been working over 72 hours a week to feed the family. In our home, preparation for the lunch will start before the last member finished the breakfast and so on. Mother was the first person to get up in the morning and last one to go to bed,” said a person.

“Well pointed,” said another person.

Another added, “Actually my husband also did a lot to bring up our son, I wasn’t the only one at home doing extra hours. Also work life in Mumbai tends to be long hours; We all have to travel long hours to work and back.”

Also Read: Edelweiss CEO Radhika Gupta Calls Mumbai Commute “Draining”, Urges For Better Infrastructure

“Until the spectre of patriarchy is obliterated, nothing will change. Even in the west, Indian women with full time jobs, are slaving at home, while the men party. I have friends like that. Until girls are treated as equal to boys from birth, nothing will change, ever,” commented a person.

Mr Murty commented about the work culture while speaking to former Infosys CEO Mohandas Pai on the first episode of 3one4 Capital’s podcast ‘The Record’. Mr Narayana Murthy drew parallels to Japan and Germany, countries that implemented the extended working hours. He also talked about other topics like nation-building, technology, his company Infosys and others.