Debate on Long Work Hours: Ambition vs. Work-Life Balance in India

Recently, there was a lot of talk about long work hours in India after some business leaders suggested ideas like working 70 to 90 hours a week. This caused a big reaction online, with many people upset about the idea of not having enough time for their lives outside of work.

Harsh Goenka, the head of the RPG Group, tried to support these ideas. He said that when leaders like Narayana Murthy and SN Subrahmanyan talked about long hours, they weren’t serious but were trying to point out something important. He believes India should focus on working harder and having lower expectations to compete with big countries like China and the United States.

Earlier in the year, Narayana Murthy, who is the chairperson of Infosys, said that working 70 hours a week could help India grow. SN Subrahmanyan from L&T even said he would make his workers work 90 hours and on Sundays if he could. Many people were unhappy with the idea, saying it wasn’t fair to the employees.

Even though Goenka appeared to agree with the idea of longer hours, he explained that it’s not about pushing people to exhaustion. He said it’s about changing how we think—from wanting easy success to aiming for real achievements. He also backed Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who criticized some Indian startups for focusing on simple things like ice cream instead of more ambitious projects like artificial intelligence or clean energy.

In the past, Goenka had criticized Subrahmanyan for his comments about long work hours, saying that work-life balance is crucial. He stressed that working hard is important, but not at the cost of people’s well-being. He believes that everybody needs time to rest and enjoy their lives outside of work.