An INSEAD graduate has fired five hard-hitting questions to corporate India, challenging the 90-hour workweek narrative championed by L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan.
Akshat Kharbanda’s pointed questions on LinkedIn resonated widely, casting doubt on the logic and fairness of such expectations.
“If I give you 90 hours, do you give me 90 hours of pay? Promotions? Equity? Or just lip service about “patriotism”? » he asked, adding: “Let’s value results over hours and people over optics. »
The controversy began with Subrahmanyan defending mandatory Saturday work days, joking: “What are you doing sitting at home?” How long can you look at your wife? He drew comparisons to China’s so-called 90-hour work ethic, saying it was the key to economic dominance.
However, his comments did not address whether those requirements would include overtime pay or job security, a glaring omission highlighted by Kharbanda and others.
Kharbanda’s criticism went beyond rhetorical questions. “How much of this work is truly value-added, and how much is it just a performative activity?” » he asked, questioning the effectiveness of the culture of overwork.
He further challenged outdated comparisons with countries like China and Singapore, questioning whether they still applied in the modern Indian context.
Nirmalya Kajuri, a professor at IIT Mandi, added another dimension to the debate, pointing out that many countries pay professionals for overtime, while Indian companies routinely demand 50-60 hours without pay.
“If India strictly implemented overtime pay for more than 40 hours of work, business leaders would suddenly champion work-life balance,” he observed. His posts, viewed nearly 400,000 times, drew attention to the lack of enforcement of overtime laws in India.
“Hard work matters when it comes to your growth, goals and meaningful results. But working only to meet irrational expectations? Neither effective nor sustainable,” Kharbanda wrote.
