Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, asked about 70-hour week, said this

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen was the chief guest at Osmania University's 83rd convocation (Image credit: osmania1917/Twitter)

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen waded into the debate on 70-hour work week while interacting with students at his alma mater Osmania University on Tuesday. The Indian-American business executive advised youngsters to follow the path that works best for them without taking on the “victim mentality.”

Narayen was in Hyderabad to receive an honorary doctorate from Osmania University as well as to attend its convocation ceremony.

During the event, he said that Adobe, as an organisation, never counted attendance based on the number of hours an employee put in. “For me I work hard because I love what I do and want to accomplish things. For me in my career there are times when something is due and you work like crazy. At the same time, there are people in Adobe who work for me and with me and they want to take time off and I support them,” he said according to Times of India, emphasising the importance of taking days off to maintain work-life balance.

Asked for his opinion on Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s remarks on how youngsters should work 70 hours a week, the 60-year-old CEO of Adobe said: “People should do what they want without taking the victim mentality - that I am being told what to do. You are more in control of your career, your destiny, than you give yourself credit.

“At the same time, you only have yourself to blame if you don't like what you do,” Narayen added.

Shantanu Narayen is the latest in the long line of founders, CEOs, employees and social media mavens who have offered their take on Murthy’s controversial comment. Edelweiss MF chief Radhika Gupta, Emcure Pharmaceuticals executive director Namita Thapar, Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal and industrialist Harsh Goenka are among those have either supported or rejected Murthy’s call for a 70-hour work week.