70 Hour Work Week
October 29, 2023. 10:00 PM
I wrote the following article on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-m-sathya-prasad-fnae-70a752212_billionaire-businessman-says-young-indians-activity-7124340625486872576-gNdI?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAADXcGnoBuxQDPIB2lDXyNCIMPGsI5p90yzQ
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I was intrigued by Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy’s (NRN) latest advice that people must work for 70 hrs a week. An article below mentions:
Quote
"My request is that our youngsters must say: 'This is my country. I want to work 70 hours a week," N.R. Narayana Murthy, the 77-year-old founder of information technology giant Infosys, said in a recent interview with former Infosys CFO T.V. Mohandas Pai.
Unquote
Quick weekly calc.:
Total hrs = 24 x 7 = 168
Hrs of sleep for healthy life = 8 x 7 = 56
Min. commute time in cities like Bangalore for 5 workdays = 2 x 5 = 10 hrs
Sat. & Sun. = 48-16 (sleep) = 32 hrs
We get 168 – (56+10+32) = 70 hrs
i.e, 14 work hrs per weekday.
Under normal circumstances, if a person works for 45 hrs a week, then he/she gets 70-45 = 25 hrs, i.e., 5 hrs a day of personal time per working day, reasonably split between morning and evening, during which they could do other things in life – cooking, cleaning, taking bath, etc., inextricable in the existence of humans.
I do not know how these 70 hrs a week were calculated by NRN! And if NRN thinks that productivity and creativity are directly linked to the number of hours put in the office, he is unfortunately wrong. It would cause unnecessary stress and burnout.
"This is my country", appeals more to emotion than reason. People bring in nationalism when they run out of logic, especially in a globalized world driven by free market. Productivity is a deeper subject, elaborated in the link below.
NRN goes on to highlight that rebuilding Germany and Japan after the Second World War entailed extra efforts, as a justification for the 70-hour work week. The post-war scenario is atypical. The extraordinary must never become the norm. People rise to the occasion during certain times, and this doesn’t mean they are expected to do so all the time! I bet even the Germans, and the Japanese, would agree with me!
What NRN fails to realize is that people are neither machines nor superhumans.
The following view was also given by the very same NRN, in 2001:
Quote:
Equally important was the company’s policy towards its employees, said Murthy. “It was our belief that the first duty of a corporation is to uphold respect and dignity for the individual … Our core corporate assets walk out every evening, mentally and physically tired. It is our duty to make sure that these assets return well rested, energetic and enthusiastic the next morning."
“Our respect for our professionals can be summed by our belief that the market capitalization of Infosys becomes zero after working hours end at 5 p.m. no matter what it was during the day.”
Unquote
I don’t know what has changed in the world around us or within NRN, between 2001 and now, for him to expect that people must work for 70 hrs a week and walk around tired all the time!!! At what office closing time does NRN now think that the market capitalization would become zero?
(c) M. Sathya Prasad