70-hour work week will ensure pharma companies make tons of money: Shark Tank India's Namita Thapar

Namita Thapar is a judge at the popular business reality show Shark Tank India and the executive editor of Emcure Pharmaceuticals.

Shark Tank India judge Namita Thapar, who had on Tuesday pointed out that working for 70 hours a week would mean that one would have no time to spend with family and result in poor mental health, has again asserted that such long working hours are not ideal for employees.

Thapar, who is the executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, said that a work culture like this would only benefit pharma companies that churn out medicines to deal with the physical and mental illnesses that long working hours are bound to cause.

"All that 70-100 hours a week will ensure is that pharma companies keep making tons of money due to poor physical and mental health... not ideal, plus 'each to his/ her own,' we have to help each employee be 'the best version of themselves' how can we as leaders or companies ever enforce ?" she wrote on X.

The comment was part of a light exchange between Namita Thapar and fellow Shark Tank India judge and Shaadi.com owner Anupam Mittal.

All that 70-100 hrs a wk will ensure is that Pharma co’s keep making tons of money due to poor physical & mental health..not ideal, plus “each to his/ her own”, we have to help each employee be “the best version of themselves” how can we as leaders or companies ever enforce ?

— Namita (@namitathapar) November 1, 2023

Mittal had recently suggested that he has been working long hours -- perhaps equivalent to 70 hours a week -- for years.

After all these years, still working 70 hour weeks pic.twitter.com/A9cnbRniGX

— Anupam Mittal (@AnupamMittal) October 28, 2023

Responding to it, Thapar wrote on Tuesday, "Anupam Mittal, if we listen to you and other experts about working 70 hours/week (plus horrendous commute time) will we ever find time for family, creating precious memories, and most importantly for mental health?"

The Shark's comments also come in the wake of a raging debate sparked by Infosys founder Narayana Murthy who advised youngsters in India to work for 70 hours a week to increase India's overall productivity.

In conversation with former Infosys CFO and board member Mohandas Pai, Murthy said that India’s work productivity is among the lowest in the world and to compete with countries like China, India’s youngsters must put in extra hours of work – as Japan and Germany did after World War 2.

“So therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, ‘This is my country. I’d like to work 70 hours a week'," the 77-year-old said.

Social media experts, medical professionals, and other business leaders, however, pointed out that such routines would lead to cardiac issues and stress-related complications, not to mention that the long hours may also lead to poor quality work and even poorer personal life.

Read more: Sudha Murty says husband Narayana Murthy 'has worked 80 to 90 hours a week'