Calls for overwork take home labour as a given

Corporate advocacy of a long work-week assumes people's reliance for home chores on either low-paid labour toiling under harsh conditions or unpaid work—usually done by women

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Distractions are a constant in our age, while productivity is that gleaming arch on the horizon that seems farther away the closer we get. And every few months, leaders of India Inc chime in to advocate longer work hours in service of this hallowed goal. The most recent was the chief of L&T, who seemed to suggest that working 90 hours a week, including Sundays, would serve a national cause. This advocacy typically assumes that 'someone else' will do employees' daily chores—running the home, shopping for groceries, cleaning, cooking, taking care of children and elders, packing lunch boxes for office-goers, and more. In urban India, a country where domestic labour remains cheap and weakly regulated, that someone else is likely to be a 'maid,' 'cook' or 'help,' usually a woman.

Some weeks ago, X was alight with arguments after a techie suggested that young folks "get a maid" and gadgets to boost productivity and "increase your earning potential."