A debate has erupted over Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman SN Subramanian’s statement of working 90 hours a week. The new entrant in this debate is from Bajaj Auto. Rajeev Bajaj (Rajiv Bajaj). Bajaj says that Indian industry needs to move away from keeping track of work hours. He called it an ‘outdated and backward’ metric. According to Bajaj, doing enough work matters, but what is important is the quality of the working hours.
In a conversation with CNBC-TV18 on January 10, Rajeev Bajaj took a more sympathetic view on work culture and said that if the time taken by an employee to travel to and from office is included, the employee is already working half the day. Are doing, which is a good figure. Bajaj said that regardless of the number of hours worked, there is a need to focus on qualitative aspects and not just on one dimension. Rajiv Bajaj did not mention L&T Chairman SN Subramanian’s comments.
What has L&T Chairman said?
In a video shared on social media, L&T Chairman SN Subramanian is seen saying that employees should work 90 hours a week and should not hesitate to work even on Sundays. He says, “What do you do sitting at home?” How long can you stare at your wife? How long can wives look at their husbands? Leave it all. Come to office and work.” In the video, he asked employees to spend less time at home and more time in the office.
In the video, L&T Chief Communications Officer Sumeet Chatterjee is seen asking the chairman, “Why are L&T employees asked to work on Saturdays despite being a top group?” Subramanian says, “I Regretfully I am not able to get you to work on Sunday. If I can get you to work on Sunday, I will be more happy, because I work on Sunday.” Subramanian’s statement has again reignited the debate on work-life balance. This debate first started with the suggestion of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy to work 70 hours a week.
L&T Chairman’s package is 535 times more than the employees’ salary, he works even on Sundays
Working hours are not the most decisive factor holding businesses back
Saying that companies need to complete essential work, Rajiv Bajaj said working hours are not the most decisive factor holding businesses back. According to Bajaj, “I doubt whether this is stopping companies from performing well, because then, the bottleneck is at the top of the company.” The role of senior leadership in any company is involved in enabling better productivity. My job is to create a workplace that is welcoming to others.”
Productivity is talked about in leadership, but implementation is at junior levels.
He emphasized that businesses today need to move away from simply tracking an employee’s working hours. Instead the work needs to be completed more quickly. On the issue of 90 hours work, Bajaj further said that start it from the top positions of the companies, and if it seems that it works as a proof of concept, then implement it further. He said that talks about productivity happen at the top i.e. leadership, but implementation happens at junior levels.
There was an uproar over the issue of working 90 hours a week and staring at the wife, know who said what on the statement of L&T Chairman