(MENAFN- Live Mint) A day after Larsen and Toubro chairman SN Subrahmanyan asked people to work for 90 hours a week , Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Friday hit out him saying it reeks of“wanting to be new age slave drivers”.
Taking to X, Chaturvedi wrote,“Besides being misogynistic, this statement reeks of wanting to be the new age slave drivers of India.”
What L&T CEO had said?
Earlier on Thursday, Larsen and Toubro chairman SN Subrahmanyan triggered an online outrage with his remark , asking people to work for '90 hours a week'.
"I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy, because I work on Sundays," PTI quoted Subrahmanyan as saying in an undated video circulating on social media.
"What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands? Come on, get to the office and start working," he added.
Later, the firm issued a statement clarifying Subrahmanyan's remarks and referring to them as“extraordinary efforts required for achieving extraordinary outcomes for the nation.”
"We believe this is India's decade, a time demanding collective dedication and effort to drive progress and realise our shared vision of becoming a developed nation. The chairman's remarks reflect this larger ambition, emphasising that extraordinary effort," L&T spokesperson said in a statement.
Similar to Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy:
Subrahmanyan's remarks are now being compared with Infosys co-founder Narayan Murthy , who had advocated a 70-hour work week few months ago.
"India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world... my request is that our youngsters must say, 'this is my country, I want to work 70 hours a week'," Murthy had said.
Reactions:
Capitalmind founder and CEO Deepak Shenoy has shared his own thought-provoking take on productivity and work-life balance.
Shenoy in a post on social media platform X, he wrote, "I've probably worked 100 hours a week for nearly all my working life, but most of that was as an entrepreneur. You don't have to enforce working hours. People who are motivated will work happily. In any case, most real work happens in 4-5 hours a day, but you don't know when that happens."
RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka expressed his concerns regarding the idea of a 90-hour work week. He took to X and wrote, "“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. Work-life balance isn't optional, it's essential. Well, that's my view! #WorkSmartNotSlave."
Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone was shocked with L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan's 90-hour workweek comment. She took to Instagram, shared a screenshot of this statement and wrote,“And they just made it worse...”
With agency inputs.
MENAFN10012025007365015876ID1109075904
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.