Narayana Murthy’s remarks about India’s low work productivity and suggestion that youngsters in India should at least work 70 hours a week sparked buzz on social media with even entrepreneurs responding to the Infosys founder comments. Ola Cabs co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal seconded Narayana Murthy’s viewpoint and said it’s our moment to go all in and build in one generation what other countries built over many generations.
“Totally agree with Mr Murthy’s views. It’s not our moment to work less and entertain ourselves. Rather it’s our moment to go all in and build in 1 generation what other countries have built over many generations!,” Ola co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal said in a post on X.
Some entrepreneurs also disagreed with Narayana Murthy’s opinion and said it’s more about getting better at what you do as the quality of work is more valuable than putting in more hours. “Boosting productivity isn’t just about working longer hours. It’s about getting better at what you do – Upskilling, having a positive work environment and fair pay for the work done. Quality of work done > clocking in more hours,” entrepreneur and film producer Ronnie Screwvala said on X.
The users on social media have not taken Narayana Murthy’s suggestion well as many emphasized the levels of salaries at different levels. Some even pointed out that how Infosys doesn’t have a very good record in offering right salaries and more efforts at work demand better payments.
Others defended Narayana Murthy’s view and explained that the Infosys founder is speaking from a wider vision where India’s growth is a priority. Some even called 70 hours work a week ‘normal’ considering the rising startup culture in India, which demands more hours at work.
While talking to former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai on the first episode of 3one4 Capital’s podcast ‘The Record’, Narayana Murthy pitched for a change in India’s work culture as he believes India has low work productivity.
“Somehow our youth has the habit of taking not-so-desirable habits from the West, and then… not helping the country. 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. So therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, this is my country, I’d like to work 70 hours a week,” Narayana Murthy said.
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