New Delhi:
Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj has weighed in on the 90-hour work-week debate, which was just lately triggered by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) chairman SN Subrahmanyan, and prompt that the follow of working for lengthy hours – if in any respect required to be adopted – should begin from the highest.
“If you’d like a 90-hour week, begin from the highest,” Mr Bajaj instructed CNBC-TV18 on Friday.
“Variety of hours of labor would not matter, high quality of labor does. We want a kinder, gentler world greater than ever earlier than,” he added.
“The bottleneck is all the time on the high of the bottle,” Mr Bajaj mentioned as he requested leaders to rethink their methods, enhance decision-making, and empower workers to realize higher outcomes.
His remarks come days after SN Subrahmanyan sparked an internet outrage together with his feedback suggesting workers ought to work 90 hours per week and even on Sundays to stay aggressive.
“How lengthy are you able to stare at your spouse,” Mr Subrahmanyan is heard saying in a purported video handle to workers the place he urged them to spend much less time at house and extra within the workplace.
Requested why L&T required its workers to work on Saturdays, he mentioned, “I remorse I’m not capable of make you’re employed on Sundays, to be sincere. If I could make you’re employed on Sundays, I will probably be extra comfortable, as a result of I work on Sundays additionally.”
His feedback, nonetheless, drew sharp responses on social media, with many customers evaluating him to Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, who final yr additionally referred to as for Indian youth to work for 70 hours per week.
Mr Bajaj, nonetheless, differed and mentioned placing in sufficient work is vital – whether or not it is 70 or 90 hours – however the focus must be on the “high quality, effectivity, and effectiveness” of these hours.
“That’s extra vital than the sheer variety of hours,” he mentioned.
RPG Enterprises Chairman Harsh Goenka additionally joined the talk and mentioned the work-life stability is “important”.
“90 hours per week? Why not rename Sunday to ‘Solar-duty’ and make ‘day without work’ a legendary idea!” he posted on X.
“Working exhausting and sensible is what I consider in, however turning life right into a perpetual workplace shift? That is a recipe for burnout, not success. Work-life stability is not non-obligatory, it is important. Effectively, that is my view! #WorkSmartNotSlave”,” Mr Goenka mentioned.