New Delhi: Recently there has been a controversy regarding the work life balance schedule spanning a 70 hr work week and what transcended this was the comment by the Chairman of Larsen and Toubro, Subrahmanyan who voiced how long can one look at their wife. His statement once terrifically dismissed as vulgar made its round on social media and further emphasized on the boundless limit of working too much.

Amping up this drama is Subramanyan’s salary of ₹51.05 crore for the year 2023-24, during which he was a L&T employee, which pales woefully to the median pay of 534 L&T employees. Despite voicing their concerns, industry veterans who spoke of abhorring of workaholism, L&T defended its chairman.

What Were The Thoughts Of The Industry Leaders?

During the Haveli food court dinner, RPG Enterprises Chairman Harsh Goenka mockingly raised the issue of why a 90 hours work week is needed. He said, 'Why don’t we just call Sundays as Sun-duty and abolish days off altogether?' Lets call it what it is… success is derived from working smart not working hard, he said. He added, 'Work life balance is not a privilege, it is a necessity, it is not a want.’

The Chairman of Marico Ltd Harsh Mariwala also shared similar views, stating that hours spent in work does not define success, rather, success is defined by passion, quality and so much more. He said young workers are remarkably effective given growth ops in which they are placed. “People are naturally driven to excel if they believe that hard work will advance their careers,” he reiterated. He also pointed to the need for honesty and ethics in the workplace to make work enjoyable and rewarding.

Bajaj Auto’s Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj in his address during the session called the perception that success is achieving targets in ‘long hours’ ‘archaic and unproductive’ Rajiv Bajaj went on to suggest that if such a culture single advocates must take the lead first and if it works should then be rolled out to the rest of the staff.

Past Remarks About Extended Working Hours  

This storm has just a few days back been provoked by the comments of co-founder of Infosys Narayana Murthy who last year said that young working class should be prepared to work 70 hours a week. Ola's founder Bhavish Aggarwal also endorsed Murthy giving ample scope for further debate on the topic.  

Adani Comments On Work Life Balance  

A verse of a different song came from Gautam Adani, India’s second richest man, claiming that work-life balance is a personal decision. In an interview Adani proclaimed, “Everyone has their own understanding of work life balance, a concept which varies from one person to the other.” He suggested that once in a while, one should be able to spend a minimum of four hours per day with their families and remarked how people’s decisions should always be dictated by love – self love and love for the families.