'New-age slave drivers': L&T chairman's 90-hour work week comments come under fire

SN Subrahmanyan

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) chairman SN Subrahmanyan’s comments advocating a 90-hour work week have triggered a debate, drawing criticism from many celebrities and industry leaders while shinning spotlight on work-life balance as well as mental health.

“I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy because I work on Sundays,” Subrahmanyan can be heard saying in an undated video that recently surfaced on the Reddit platform and has since been shared widely. The L&T chief is believed to be addressing company employees.

What he said next has been met with outrage, with some calling out the L&T chief for being misogynistic. “What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands? Get to the office and start working,” Subrahmanyan is heard saying.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi posted on the X platform, "Besides being misogynistic, this statement reeks of wanting to be the new age slave drivers of India.”

Actor Deepika Padukone took to Instagram to say the statement was "shocking" and added the hashtag #MentalHealthMatters. After L&T posted a clarification, the actor, who has spoken openly about her struggle with depression, wrote, “And they just made it worse…”

RPG Group chief Harsh Goenka was also sharp in his criticism. “90 hours a week?” Goenka wrote on X. “Why not rename Sunday to ‘Sun-duty' and make ‘day off' a mythical concept!”

“Working hard and smart is what I believe in, but turning life into a perpetual office shift? That's a recipe for burnout, not success. Work-life balance isn't optional, it's essential. Well, that's my view,” the entrepreneur wrote. “Work smart, not slave.”

Soon after the statement went viral, L&T issued a statement emphasising its commitment to “nation-building” and described Subrahmanyan’s remarks as reflective of its vision to achieve extraordinary outcomes. “This is India’s decade, demanding collective dedication and effort to drive progress,” the statement said.

Joy Bhattacharjya, a quizzer, writer and sports producer, also spoke out about the X platform. "Those of us who started working in the 80s and 90s have seen many bosses like S Subramanyam - reasonably competent people who, thanks to the happy accidents of liberalisation, the industry they were in and a new global order, flourished far beyond they could ever have imagined," he said. "And now they've begun to believe it was just because of their talent and hard work, though more often than not they went home late just because the boys club in office, with all the attendant cronies, was far more satisfying to the ego than going home to family."