L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan has faced intense criticism from his fellow leaders as well along with common people following his recent viral comments, in which he suggested that employees should work 90 hours a week, including Sundays, to remain competitive.
In an undated video, Subrahmanyan responded to an employee’s query about mandatory Saturday work 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 strongly criticised the L&T Chairman’s comment, with many raising concerns about the potential negative impact of such a work culture on employees’ mental health and overall well-being.
Rajiv Bajaj, MD of Bajaj Auto argued that India Inc. must shift away from measuring work hours, calling it an ‘archaic and regressive’ metric. He stressed that while putting in sufficient hours is important, the quality of those hours matters just as much. “Let it start from the top, and if we find that it works as a Proof of Concept, then implement it further down,” Bajaj stated in an interview with CNBC-TV18.
Harsh Goenka, billionaire chairman of RPG Group, took to social media platform X to assert that work-life balance is not optional but essential. He 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. #WorkSmartNotSlave.”
Marico Founder and Chairman Harsh Mariwala disagreed with Subrahmanyan’s comments, stating, “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 fulfilment,” he wrote in a post on X on January 9.
Info Edge Founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani offered a more nuanced perspective on Subrahmanyan’s viral remark. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Bikhchandani explained that while he believed Subrahmanyan’s intention was to ‘motivate’ his employees, the idea of a 90-hour work week was not a sustainable approach.
Adman and Ogilvy Executive Chairman Piyush Pandey sharply criticised Subrahmanyan’s statement, suggesting that L&T should rename itself “Lynch and Torment.” Pandey was particularly harsh about Subrahmanyan’s remark, “How long can you stare at your wife?” “Are you mad? What kind of thinking is that? A nation is built on hard-working people, not slaves,” he said.
Also Read: ‘I Regret Not Being Able To Make You Work On Sundays’: L&T Boss On Work-Life Balance
