Workaholic culture or work-life balance? Know how ’90-hour work week’ won’t work for Indians

Prioritising well-being and personal life with commitments at work is essential. Balance between the two is key to long-term success and fulfilment. Let’s discuss about the recent ’90-hour work week’ demand by a renowned chairman which sparked debate among Indians.

The concept of ‘workaholic culture’ has been gaining significant attention in recent times, especially in the Indian context. With the ever-increasing demands of the corporate world, employees are often faced with the dilemma of whether to prioritise their work or maintain a healthy work-life balance. Now recently, S.N. Subramanian, Chairman of L&T (Larsen & Toubro) has suggested that employees should work on weekends too. According to him, it should be a 90-hour work week for Indians.

He said, “If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy because I work on Sundays. What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife, and how long can the wife stare at their husband? Come on, get to the office and start working,” he said. His statement has sparked debate. The term ’90-hour work week’ seems like an exaggerated statement, but the truth is it is not alien to a few industries.

One might consider putting in more hours as equal to more productivity and achievement. However, according to research, it is not the amount of hours worked that means being successful because long hours at work can negatively affect both physical and mental health.

Reacting to his statement, actor Deepika Padukone said, “It’s shocking to see such senior managers make such statements.” She also added a hashtag in her comments #mentalhealthmatters.

Badminton star Jwala Gutta called the chairman of L&T’s remark “misogynistic and scary”. She said, “I mean, first of all, why shouldn’t he state at his wife? And why only on a Sunday? It’s sad and sometimes unbelievable that such educated and people at highest positions of big organisations are not taking mental health and mental rest seriously and making such misogynistic statements and exposing themselves so openly. It’s disappointing and scary.”