The ‘90-hour workweek’ is turning into a never-ending discussion. From Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra to Larsen & Toubro (L&T) chairman SN Subrahmanyan, many business tycoons have commented on the matter in the past few weeks.
Now, a Reddit user, ‘EmployPractical,’ has drawn attention to the ill effects of 90-hour workweeks even if the employees are given a 100% hike.
Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy first stirred the debate when he expressed his disagreement with the concept of a ‘work-life’ balance.
“I don't believe in work-life balance. I was a little bit disappointed when, in 1986 or something, we moved from a six-day week to a five-day work week,” Murthy told CNBC TV-18 in an interview earlier.
Amid the ongoing discussion around a ‘90-hour workweek’, a section of social media users have come forward in support of extended working hours if they get a “40%, 50%, or even 100% hike in salary.”
The Reddit user mentioned multiple side effects of 90-hour workweeks, which include deterioration of mental and physical health, reduction in wages in the long term, increased exploitation by corporates, etc.
“Corporations thrive on maximizing output while minimizing costs. By normalizing extreme hours, we’re giving them permission to exploit us further,” read the post.
Calling 90+ hours workweeks unsustainable, the Reddit user mentioned the “well documented” ill effects of higher work pressure, including “mental exhaustion, burnout, long-term physical ailments, etc.”
The user also pointed out how agreeing to 90+hours will be a major setback for the efforts of previous generations, which struggled and raised their voices for better working conditions.
“Our parents and grandparents fought for shorter working hours—protesting, enduring hardships, and even facing violence—to secure the 8–9-hour workday and weekends we often take for granted.”
In the end, the user explained how agreeing to 90+ workweeks, even with a massive salary hike, will lead to a reduction in pay structure in the long run.
“If 90+ hour workweeks become normalized, companies will need fewer employees to get the same amount of work done. Instead of increasing wages, the demand for labor will drop, leading to higher unemployment and stagnating or even decreasing salaries. You lose bargaining power because workers become more replaceable.”
Several users agreed; however, some attempted to delve deeper into the 90+ hour workweek debate. Whereas, many others agreed to the idea of paying more for 90+ hour workweeks.
“Paying hourly for any +++ hours after 40/week solves many problems [sic],” commented a user.
“It’s actually quite possible to do the work you do in 90 hours in 50-60 hours. Let’s be honest, if you are working for 90 hours then a lot of it is waiting to get things dependent on others. You do get plenty of down time in that period even at work [sic],” commented another user.
“People also need to watch an episode of malgudi days called “45 a month”. It reflects our current work culture [sic],” suggested another user.
“I believe such statements are meant to highlight the pay disparity among the cxo claiming to work 90hrs a week vs common employee, and nothing more! [sic]”
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