Infosys founder defends call for 70-hour workweeks, says he "doesn't believe in a work/life balance"

[midian182]

A hot potato: Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy is once again facing criticism for talking about the benefits of working every hour that you're awake. The Indian entrepreneur, who previously called for young people to work 70-hour weeks, has doubled down on this comment by stating he does not "believe in work-life balance."

In October 2023, Murthy suggested that young people work twelve-hour days for the "next 20 years, 50 years, whatever it is," out of a sense of duty to the nation and to support future generations. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi can work 100 hours per week, as do his cabinet ministers; therefore, citizens should show their appreciation by doing the same.

Murthy's appeal comes despite the fact that working 70-hour weeks violates Indian labor laws and is considered illegal in the country.

Murthy doubled down on his views in January. At the recent CNBC Global Leadership Summit, he was asked if he still stood by his 70-hour-week proposal. "Absolutely," he said. "I don't believe in work-life balance […] I have not changed my view; I will take this with me to my grave," he told CNBC-TV18.

"I don't believe in work-life balance," declares Infosys' Narayana Murthy as he defends his infamous '70-hour work-week' comment while talking to Shereen Bhan at CNBC TV18's Global Leadership Summit#CNBCTV18GLS #CNBCTV18at25 #cnbctv18digital @ShereenBhan pic.twitter.com/Hcrej8DUkw

– CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) November 14, 2024

Murthy seems to have an equal amount of hatred for taking weekends off as he does for spending a day not working until you pass out. He expressed his lament when companies moved from a six-day work week to a five-day work week in 1986.

"I was not very happy with that. 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, who is the father-in-law of former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, highlighted post-WW2 Japan and Germany as shining examples of hard work and high productivity. "We owe it to the poor people to work hard and make the quality of their life a little bit better," he said.

Murthy said that he used to go into the office at 6.20 a.m. every day and go home at 8.30 p.m. – 14 hours each day – for six and a half days a week until he retired.

When asked if he regretted not spending more time with his children instead of working, he said quality was more important than quantity, and that the hour and a half to two hours he spent with the children at dinner when he returned home were "lots of fun."

There have been plenty of studies that show working excessive amounts of hours can harm productivity rather than increase it. In Japan, there have been cases of people dying from overwork, leading the country to introduce measures to prevent this practice.

In August, Infosys made headlines for allegedly stringing along thousands of recent engineering graduates for years after extending job offers and making them go through weeks of unpaid training. The company was also criticized for forcing employees back to the office in April.

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Infosys founder defends call for 70-hour workweeks, says he "doesn't believe in a work/life balance"

 

[JKnight]

He wants people to work until they drop dead at a young age and repeat that cycle. Work-life balance needs to exist to allow people to recharge and be attentive at work. An exhausted person will make mistakes that could endanger lives.

 

[Lew Zealand]

OK: Pay everyone what you and the PM get and maybe you'll get some takers.

 

[Vulcanproject]

Good way to guarantee worker dissatisfaction and low productivity

 

[redgarl]

If I was paid a CEO salary, I would also work 70 hours a week without any issues...

If I need to work until retirement age, then you can bet I will do the strict minimum required by the position without a single minute more than what I am paid for.

 

[OortCloud]

Jesus - I bet being his PA was a barrel of laughs.

 

[seeprime]

I'm sure he wants to pay under a dollar an hour also. What a ****.

 

[wiyosaya]

Maybe he pretends to work and has stuff he does in the office to pass the time, but he can still say he's in the office.

The guy sounds utterly clueless and is spouting political propaganda like "make and keep the country great for future generations."

IMO, its the future generations that will do what he is suggesting - and it probably won't be through working 70+ hours a week.

 

[letsgoiowa]

How about we send him to solitary confinement for 70 hours a week to get the authentic experience?

 

[ActualViking]

If I was paid a CEO salary, I would also work 70 hours a week without any issues...

If I need to work until retirement age, then you can bet I will do the strict minimum required by the position without a single minute more than what I am paid for.

You'd regret the 70 hours work life faster than you expect.

I've been there and while not at CEO salary level I made way more money than I could find time to use. And this include spending silly money to save some time by paying for people doing things I would normally happily do my self.

At first while working like that I saw just the money, but eventually I woke up and realized how much I was missing out on. Putting it bluntly I had money but no life.
Now not having any money also sucks, but finding a balance whit some money and not working more than the standard 37 hour makes more a much better life. And I will go far that given a time machine those 70 hour years I would go back and instead work like a normal person, the money I made was after all just money the time on the other hand was more valuable than I ever imagined.
Today if I get the choice between a raise and time off then I take the time off.

 

[ActualViking]

That CEO is an *****.

Working crazy hours doesn't make people more productive, the exception being perhaps some manual labor that take no skill (and then the extra productivity is only temporary until people collapse). The guy is stuck in the past.

Need an easy proof of how a good work-life is better, just look at the productivity of the countries of the world and the look at their work-life balance.

 

[airbornex]

Murthy wants 70-hour weeks to fix the economy, but let’s not forget Infosys is still out here giving job offers the same way I give out Monopoly money—no intention of paying anytime soon. Priorities, right?

 

[VitalyT]

He's not just a workaholic, he's a psychopath, who has non-compliant employees for dinner, with a bottle of Chianti and some fava beans.

 

[Burty117]

You'd regret the 70 hours work life faster than you expect.

I've been there and while not at CEO salary level I made way more money than I could find time to use. And this include spending silly money to save some time by paying for people doing things I would normally happily do my self.

At first while working like that I saw just the money, but eventually I woke up and realized how much I was missing out on. Putting it bluntly I had money but no life.
Now not having any money also sucks, but finding a balance whit some money and not working more than the standard 37 hour makes more a much better life. And I will go far that given a time machine those 70 hour years I would go back and instead work like a normal person, the money I made was after all just money the time on the other hand was more valuable than I ever imagined.
Today if I get the choice between a raise and time off then I take the time off.

As someone who’s been trying to get on the property ladder for 15 years, I disagree, I’d happily do 70 hour weeks for crazy money, I probably wouldn’t do it for more than 2 years mind you, I’m fully aware I’d prefer to have that time back, but at this point, CEO money is one way to get on that ladder very quickly.

 

[Todd Sauve]

India is in many ways a backward country, with its caste system, slavery and no end of social problems. Why anyone would want to take advice from someone like Murthy is beyond me.

 

[alexnode]

Can someone get this man in prison, they tax evade, they abuse labour laws. Maybe he should be informed that people died to get a 5 day week and 8 hours shifts. Most of his business is getting 70% automated too so... I don't see them lasting for very long. If they survive they will shrink to a few thousand high qualified developers and their menial services will close doors soon .

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Well in India, cheap labour is a plentiful commodity and life is certainly cheap. One dies, 100 replacements are lining up to be exploited.

Hopefully this guy will be taking it to the grave much sooner than later.

 

[MasterAce]

We, the westerners, like to defend our comfortable lives vigorously. At the same time we have to compete with these people (Indians, Chinese etc.) in free markets. There’s a reason anything that can fit a cardboard box is made in the east

 

[mammoth30]

If you pay me for 70h workweek then let's get going but most want ppl to work till they drop with no proper compensation for the work.

 

[Rudyduu]

If I was making $100,000 an hour I wouldn't mind working 12 hours a day, however, I would never have the energy to enjoy the money on my day off if I couldn't enjoy all this money what's the point in having it?


The guy is a billionaire who's made his money on the backs of people making substantially less than he does. The guy couldn't be more out of touch. He wants people to work harder than ever to make him money, not to make their lives better.

 

[monkeylove]

He's talking about poor countries. That's how several in Asia industrialized, starting with Japan.

Here's one video about it:

People's Century - "Asia Rising"

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Bitter and lonely old man wants the world to be bitter and alone so he doesn't feel as bad about his poor life choices.

 

[Art C]

And this is why outsourcing your IT work to places like Infosys is a bad idea. You're trusting your business to people who are overtired and unhappy because they have no life.

 

[waclark]

As someone who’s been trying to get on the property ladder for 15 years, I disagree, I’d happily do 70 hour weeks for crazy money, I probably wouldn’t do it for more than 2 years mind you, I’m fully aware I’d prefer to have that time back, but at this point, CEO money is one way to get on that ladder very quickly.

Sales. In the right job you can make a ton of money. You will work 50-60 minimum and 70 hours some weeks. I was on the technical side of sales, but my sales guys made great money. One year my rep made about $3M in salary and commissions. You won't make that every year, but you can make $200K+ if you have a good territory and a good product to sell.

 

[JohnRambo4]

Um, I'm gonna need you go ahead and come in tomorrow. So if you could be here around nine, that would be great. Oh, oh, yea…I forgot. I'm gonna also need you to come in Sunday too. We, uh, lost some people this week and we need to sorta catch up. Thanks!