Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy has gone viral on social media for his suggestion to youngsters of the country to work harder to compete with economies that have made tremendous progress in the past 2-3 decades. Appearing on the first podcast episode of 3one4 Capital's 'The Record' on YouTube, the 77-year-old said that youngsters in India must work for at least 70 hours a week.
Speaking further in the podcast to Infosys CEO Mohandas Pai, Murthy said that India’s work productivity is the 'lowest' as compared to the other developed nations like Japan and Germany, who implemented the extended working hours in order to compete with countries like China.
"India’s work productivity is one of the lowest in the world. Unless we improve our work productivity, unless we reduce corruption in the government at some level, because we have been reading I don’t know the truth of it, unless we reduce the delays in our bureaucracy in taking this decision, we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress," the Infosys founder said.
"So therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say 'this is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours a week'," he added.
However, his comments of the extended work hours sparked a debate on social media.
On X user took to the microblogging site and wrote, "Respectfully, I disagree with Mr. Narayan Murthy's recent statement on working #70hours a week. While hard work is important, it's equally crucial to prioritize work-life balance, mental health, and employee well-being. Quality work, not just quantity, should be our focus."
One of the user shared a popular scene from Amitabh Bachchan movie Agneepath and wrote, "Infosys Employees to Narayan Murthy after his recent statement on 70 hours of weekly work."
Another shared a chart of work hours in India and wrote, "Indian Work the Longest Hours,still Mr. Narayan Murthy wants 70 hrs work per week. Unbelievable."
While a third gave a breakup of the salary a youngster would be earning.