The 70-hour workweek is justified by the claim that "it is necessary for economic development," according to Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu. However...Sridhar Vembu, the CEO of Zoho Corporation, rekindled the controversy surrounding the 70-hour workweek, which was initially initiated by Narayana Murthy, a co-founder of Infosys. The argument for the 70-hour workweek is that "it is necessary for economic development," he stated in a lengthy post on X.
"Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China have all developed through extreme hard work, often imposing punitive levels of work on their own people," Vembu said, citing East Asian examples.
"These very countries also have such low birth rates now that their governments have to beg people to make babies," he stated.
The two inquiries
The CEO of Zoho then posed two queries: "Is economic development dependent on such labor? Is the cost of a lonely old existence for a vast number of individuals really worth such a development?
"It is sufficient if only a small percentage of the population drives themselves hard," Vembu said in response to the first question. Please take note of the "drive themselves"; while I agree with them, I refuse to recommend this to others.
"A small portion of people (maybe 5% to 5%) will push themselves very hard. That, in my opinion, is adequate for widespread economic growth, and the rest of us may maintain a respectable work-life balance. Such a balance is necessary, in my opinion.
The CEO of Zoho Corporation responded to the second query by saying, "...no, it is not worth it." He stated that "if the price is China's steep demographic decline [which has already started]," he does not want India to duplicate China's economic achievement.
He stated, "Fertility in India is already at replacement level (the southern states are significantly below that), and further declines to East Asian levels won't be good.",
"I do believe we can develop without needing to work ourselves to demographic suicide," he highlighted at the end of the piece.
Narayana Murthy's workweek of seventy hours
Several business owners felt that improved productivity was necessary, while others argued that proper compensation was necessary. Narayana Murthy's 70-hour work week sparked arguments and were met with brick-bats and flowers.
Murthy had stated in an interview with Mohandas Pai, the former chief financial officer of Infosys, that India's workers would have to double their productivity to compete with nations like China and Japan.
India has one of the lowest rates of labor productivity worldwide. We will not be able to compete with those nations that have made significant strides unless we increase our productivity at work. I therefore ask that our children declare, "This is my country." Narayana Murthy, a co-founder of Infosys, had stated, "I would like to work seventy hours a week."
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