Infosys founder Narayama Murthy pushes need for working longer hours70 hour work weeks are needed to grow productivity, he saysMurthy says he worked 80 hour weeks until retirement
If you find yourself dreading the weekend and wishing you could work a double shift every day, you might be Infosys founder Narayama Murthy’s dream employee.
Hvaing already spoken out against the supposedly workshy youth of today, who protested against working long hours, the Indian tech boss has revealed he doesn’t “believe in work-life balance”, and that he won’t budge in his thinking.
Murthy went on to hit out against the very concept of weekends, claiming the idea was a mistake, and that Indian citizens need to work longer hours.
Facing India’s challenges
When asked by CNBC-TV18 if his past controversial comments on a 70 hour work week were being misunderstood, Murthy assured that he means what he says.
He pointed to the 1986 swap from a 6-day standard work week, to the now standard 5 days as a disappointment, and claims he worked over 14 hours a day, six days a week until his retirement. Murthy, the father-in-law of recent ex-British PM, Rishi Sunak, says young people should look to post WW2 Japan and Germany, where determined, disciplined, and hardworking youngsters rebuilt the nations.
Interestingly, he doesn’t point to better productivity, happiness, or money for reasons to work a double shift every day, but rather because India needs young people to work hard to improve itself.
“I think in this country, we have to work very hard because there is no substitute for hard work even if you’re the most intelligent guy” he said.
Murthy previously said that young people in India have an ‘enormous responsibility to work very, very hard’ in order to support future generations.
These comments were widely criticized, and excessive working hours have been found to harm productivity amongst workers rather than contributing to higher output. It’s well established that happier and healthier workers are more productive, so Murthy’s comments haven’t been entirely welcomed.
Infosys was also criticized heavily in April 2024 for forcing its employees to return to the office.
Its ‘In-Person Collab Weeks’ acted to force more workers to return to the office, with Infosys designating six weeks per quarter as mandatory in-person collaboration periods.
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