NEW DELHI: After Infosys' N. R. Narayana Murthy’s controversial 70-hour-a-week work, it is now the turn of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman S. N. Subrahmanyan, who has gone beyond Murthy's work call, suggesting employees to work 90 hours a week - including Sundays - to stay competitive.
In a video message to employees that has gone viral on social media, Subrahmanyan sparked a controversy with his comments, suggesting employees should work 90 hours a week.
"What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can wives stare at their husbands? Go to the office and start working, " he said during an internal interaction with employees.
"Honestly, I am sorry that I am not able to make you work on Sundays. I will be happier if I can make you work on Sundays, because I work on Sundays too, " said the L&T Chairman.
The L&T chief also shared an anecdote to justify his stance. Subrahmanyan spoke about a conversation he had with a Chinese man who said that China could overtake the US because of its strong work ethic.
According to Subrahmanyan, the Chinese man said, "Chinese people work 90 hours a week, while Americans work only 50 hours a week."
In his video message, Subrahmanyan also encouraged L&T employees to work harder.
The video received a backlash from netizens on social media platforms, including online discussion forum Reddit, with many users comparing it to Infosys founder Murthy's statement about working 70 hours a day.
A user wrote: "I work in L&T and had to sit through this entire thing, imagine our horror! We blame Narayan Murthy for the 70-hour work week."
Another user posted: "Why CEOs, who are highly paid and have different job pressures, expect the same level of commitment from lower-paid employees. Why don't companies offer different types of working hours? What if a company had different options? 40 hours a week, 30 hours a week, 50 hours a week, 70 hours a week. More pay for more hours?”