Shashi Tharoor's take on Narayana Murthy's 70-hour work vs Bill Gates's 3-day approach

Shashi Tharoor shared his thoughts over Gates and Murthy's different opinions.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor mulled over Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s comments on work weeks. For the unversed, Murthy recently suggested that India’s youth must work for 70 hours every week in order to boost the country’s productivity. On the other hand, Gates said that the purpose of life is not just to do jobs and a three-day work week is possible because of artificial intelligence.

Sharing his own thoughts over Gates and Murthy’s different opinions, Tharoor posted on X in his trademark witty style. “'Bill Gates says a three-day work-week ought to be possible'. In other words, if Mr Gates and Mr Narayana Murthy sit down together and work out a compromise, we will end up exactly where we are, with a five-day work week!” the MP from Thiruvanthapuram wrote.

“@BillGates says a three-day work-week ought to be possible”. In other words, if Mr Gates and Mr Narayana Murthy sit down together and work out a compromise, we will end up exactly where we are, with a five-day work week!https://t.co/2Id9GEf1KC

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— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 26, 2023

Since being shared online, the post has gone viral with over two lakh views. Social media users were amused and shared their thoughts in the comments section.

“Hahaha, and if @elonmusk joins them, the average might to up to 10 days in a week,” a user wrote. Another user commented, “Let's make a deal and make it 4 days.”

“3 days would be so refreshing,” a third user remarked. “Murthy is talking about catching up to the west. Gates is talking about the future where AI assistants are integrated into our lives and we can get a lot more done in less time,” a fourth user added.

“Both are correct, if work not well organized even 7 days a week may not work, if planned 3 days enough. They are talking in their respective context,” another person mentioned.

Meanwhile, Murthy’s statement that Indian youth must work for 70 hours a week to boost the country’s overall productivity and economy caused a flutter on social media. While there were some people who agreed with Murthy, a majority were not very convinced and wondered about the health complications of having a work schedule like that.

Meanwhile, when asked about the threat of artificial intelligence on US comedian Trevor Noah’s podcast “What Now?”, Gates said that the “purpose of life is not just to do jobs”.

“If you eventually get a society where you only have to work three days a week or something, that’s probably OK,” the billionaire mentioned, adding, “The machines can make all the food and the stuff and we don’t have to work as hard.”