Infosys Co-founder Narayana Murthy‘s comment in a recent interview caused a huge uproar. Murthy suggested that India’s work culture must change.
“Youngsters should work 70 hours a week to compete with economies that have made tremendous progress in the last two to three decades. In order to compete with countries like China, India’s youngsters must put in extra hours of work – as Japan and Germany did after World War 2,” the Veteran said.
Seventy hours of work a week means working for fourteen hours a day for five days or twelve hours for six days. Currently, the IT industry has a maximum of 48 hours a week.
Some people say Murthy/Infosys should think of changing themselves first before changing the country. “The average fresher salary offered by Infosys in 2008-09 is around three Lakhs. It is the same after these many years. It is still 3.5-4 Lakhs and that does not even beat the inflation,” some people say.
There are people who question why they should work hard and take peanuts to fill the pockets of people like Murthy. “We toil hard throughout the week and take home peanuts. So that billionaires like Murthy increase their wealth and multiply their stock value,” they angrily say.
“Infosys will make wealth. The economy will flourish but what about the mental health of the employees? We will work for fourteen hours a day and toil hard in the traffic of the cities for two hours of commuting. That will leave us eight hours in a day. Doctors recommend eight hours of sleep and where is the time for self and family? Just imagine the stress and issues that will crop up,” some people say and that is true as well.
“We have been hearing instances of heart attacks, high blood pressure, and diabetes for youth even in their 30s. This will lead to a lifetime dependency on medicines and hospital bills. Do not listen to these capitalists,” people are bashing.
And there are people who say Murthy should come out of this medieval mindset that more hours means more productivity.
“Fourteen hours of work does not mean more productivity. Companies should first understand that their lopsided policies are the reason for low productivity. Indian companies are seeing employees as cheap labor and a way to exploit. Employees will never own the company and that is leading to productivity issues. Murthy and industry bosses should amend those policies first. Longer work hours do not mean more productivity,” they say.
A netizen says this draconian view will cut women out of employment. “If this system is implemented, the most affected will be women. It is no way they can fulfill the commitments at home and office under such stress. Sad that once socialist Murthy has become a blood-sucking capitalist,” she says
