Jobaaj Stories
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman, SN Subrahmanyan, recently made comments that caused a lot of backlash. He suggested that employees should work 90 hours a week and even on Sundays. In a meeting, Subrahmanyan said, “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 also.” He also joked about how people spend their time at home, saying, “What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands? Get to the office and start working.”
These comments upset many people. Harsh Goenka, the chairman of RPG Group, reacted sharply on social media. He said, “90 hours a week? Why not rename Sunday to ‘Sun-duty’ and make ‘day off’ a mythical concept!” Goenka believes that while hard work is important, forcing people to work nonstop can cause burnout. He added that work-life balance is very important and should not be ignored.
The comments also caught the attention of actor Deepika Padukone, who said it was shocking to hear such things from a senior person. Many others agreed, saying that long work hours could hurt employees' health and personal lives.
After the backlash, L&T issued a statement saying that Subrahmanyan's comments were about pushing for the country's progress. They said the chairman’s words reflected the ambition for India to grow and succeed. The company added that they are committed to a culture of passion and hard work.
Despite this, many people still felt that the chairman’s comments were wrong. The debate raised the important issue of work-life balance, with many believing that working long hours can lead to exhaustion and harm productivity.
