Narayana Murthy clarifies his ‘70-hour workweek’ remark: ‘Nobody can say you should…’

Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy on Monday reportedly clarified his stance on his 70-hour workweek comment and the ongoing debate about it, stating that nothing should be forcefully enforced on others.

The Infosys co-founder's comments last year on people working 70 hours a week sparked a debate on social media platforms, which has prompted multiple key industry executives to share their take on it. 

“There's nobody who can say you should do this, you should not do it,” said Narayana Murthy in his speech at the Kilachand Memorial Lecture in Mumbai on Monday.

The industry veteran also shared how he used to spend time when he was working to build Infosys, which has now become the second-largest IT firm in India.

“I used to get to the office at 6:20 am and leave at 8:30 pm. I’ve done it for 40-odd years. That’s a fact. So nobody can say that's wrong,” he said, highlighting his work schedule during the early days of Infosys. 

Adding to his clarification, he also said that these working hour choices are personal to each individual and should not be up for public discussion, reported media portals.

“These are not issues that should be discussed and debated. These are issues that one can introspect on, one can ingest, and one can come to some conclusion on and do whatever they want,” said Narayana Murthy.

Work-life balance debate

Since Narayana Murthy's comments on the 70-hour workweek, key executive personnel worldwide have shared their take on this corporate culture discussion.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman SN Subrahmanyan even discussed a 90-hour workweek, which led to outrage on social media platforms. 

“I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy, because I work on Sundays,” said Subrahmanyan, supporting his 90-hour workweek narrative.

Others including billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani said it is important to avoid the mistake of imposing one person's work-life balance method on another.

“Your work-life balance should not be imposed on me or vice versa,” said Adani.

As people on social media vent out their frustration as employees, there were strong opinions on both sides of the debate. Some people support intense hard work to sustain growth, while others back prioritising personal life along with workload.