Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy's recent statement advocating for a 70-hour work week for India's youth has ignited a debate. He was speaking during a podcast interview hosted by former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai who backed Murthy’s statement and defended his former company by hitting out at critics days ago.
Now, Pai has shared some data that sheds light on the context behind Murthy's recommendation. The data, sourced from the Time Use Survey (2019), delves into the working hours of urban men aged 15 to 59 in India, revealing that the national average is 61.6 hours per week.
"This is for all ages," Pai emphasized, "NRN's advice was for youngsters, people below 30! Prosperity needs hard work, data shows."
The chart also showed a humorous graph depicting what number of hours will make Murthy happy.
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Days ago, Pai firmly defending his former company against criticism from defense analyst Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, who, reacting to Murthy's viral statement, labeled it as a "Typical Indian sweatshop attitude," and added "That’s why Infosys is a glorified IT coolie provider with low-value add products."
Pai swiftly responded, countering Iyer-Mitra's claims, stating, "Abhijit, please stop making value judgments. You do not know Infosys nor what they do. Some of the biggest, most sophisticated global companies get their most complex work done by India. When you build something comparable, a $20 billion revenue company, open your mouth. Until then, please shut up."
Narayana Murthy, a billionaire, drew attention to India's low work productivity, ranking among the lowest in the world during an appearance on 3one4 Capital's podcast 'The Record,' hosted by Pai. He argued that to compete with economic giants like China, India's youth must be prepared to put in extra hours, drawing a parallel with the post-World War II efforts of Germany and Japan.
Highlighting that the youth constitute a significant portion of India's population, Murthy stressed that they must take on the responsibility of propelling the nation forward. He called for a transformation in India's culture, advocating discipline, hard work, and determination as the driving forces behind progress.
Narayana Murthy stated, "That transformation has to come from the youngsters because they form a significant majority of our population at this point of time, and they are the ones who can build our country."
In 2020, too, he urged Indian professionals to work 60 hours a week for the next two to three years to revive the post-pandemic economy.
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