The 90-hour work week debate: How India Inc reacted to L&T Chairman's viral remark

SN Subrahmanyan

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan has faced severe backlash over his recent remarks that have gone viral, suggesting employees should work 90 hours a week and even on Sundays, to stay competitive.

In an undated video, Subrahmanyan had responded to an employee's question about mandated working on Saturdays by saying, “I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays, to be honest. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy because I work on Sundays also... What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? Come on, get to the office and start working.”

Several industry leaders have reacted strongly to the comment by L&T's chairman, with many questioning the impact of such a work culture on the mental health of employees.

Harsh Goenka, billionaire chairperson of RPG Group took to social media platform X and said work-life balance isn't optional but essential. "90 hours a week? 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. #WorkSmartNotSlave"

Read  L&T backs chairman's 90-hour workweek remarks

Rajiv Bajaj of Bajaj Auto said India Inc needs to move away from measuring work hours, as it is an 'archaic and regressive' metric. While putting in enough hours is important, what also matters is the quality of the hours. "Let it start from the top, and if we find that it works as a Proof of Concept, then implement it further down," Bajaj said in a conversation with CNBC-TV18.

Marico Founder and Chairman Harsh Mariwala disagreed with Subrahmanyan's remark. "Undeniably, hard work is the backbone of success, but it is not about the hours clocked in. It's about the quality and passion one brings to those hours… When young professionals are passionate and see purpose in what they do, the need to 'balance' becomes a harmonious blend of personal and professional fulfillment," he wrote in a post on X on January 9.

Info Edge Founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani took a nuanced view of Subrahmanyan's viral remark. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Bikhchandani said that while he felt Subrahmanyan's comments were meant to only 'motivate' his employees, the 90-hour work week wasn't a 'sustainable' way to work.

Adman and Ogilvy Advertising Executive Chairman Piyush Pandey severely criticized the comment, stating that L&T should rename itself to 'Lynch and Torment'. Pandey was harsh in his criticism of Subrahmanyan's 'How long can you stare at your wife' jibe. "Are you mad? What kind of thinking is that? A nation is built on hard working people, not slaves," he said.

Read Deepika Padukone reacts on L&T Chairman S N Subrahmanyan's comment

Startup founders too had mixed views over longer work hours. CRED Founder Kunal Shah said that although work-life balance is a 'personal choice', he believes that no big achievement can come from it.

Shaadi.com CEO Anupam Mittal said, "work-life balance is destroying a whole generation."

However, Emcure Pharma CEO Namita Thapar strongly disagreed. "Founders like me, who make tons of money, can work 24 hours a day if we choose to. But for the common man and woman, there has to be a reasonable limit," she said.

SN Subrahmanyan's comment rekindled the storm that had followed after Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy advocated 70-hour work week last year. In a podcast in October, Infosys co-founder had said that India's youth must work 70 hours every week to improve India's productivity. Murthy's comments sparked a nationwide debate over the ethical and practical implications of such expectations. While some viewed this as a call to action, others criticized it for being outdated and detrimental to employee welfare.