India Has a Misplaced Obsession With Longer Working Hours

The pursuit of productivity growth should also look at upskilling workers and how to create better jobs.

- Debarshi Dasgupta

"What do you do sitting at home?" Normally, what an employee does in his free time at home should not be the prerogative of his boss. But that is exactly what the chairman and managing director of a top Indian multinational infrastructure and information technology firm inquired.

"How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wife stare at the husband?" Mr S. N. Subrahmanyan, the chairman and managing director of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), went on to ask his employees.

These incredulous remarks were made when the 64-year-old honcho was asked at an internal town hall meeting in January why L&T employees have to work on Saturdays.

Any hopes that his firm's 407,000-odd employees had for a better work-life balance were dashed, when Mr Subrahmanyan added: "I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays, to be honest. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be happier because I work on Sundays also."

Somebody - possibly a disgruntled L&T employee - leaked the video online, unleashing not just a meme fest that quickly sullied the brand's image but also ignited a debate on why some Indian corporate leaders remain fixated on squeezing more out of their staff.

Indians already work some of the longest hours in the world, even longer than their counterparts in China, Japan or South Korea, countries notorious for a culture of workaholism. On average, white-collar employees in the country work 46.7 hours each week, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), with 51 per cent of India's workforce working 49 or more hours each week.

This places India in an unenviable spot - 13th among the most overworked countries, far above Singapore at the 49th spot with its 42.6 hours each week.

Many Indian daily-wage workers in the informal and blue-collar sector have it far worse. They work nearly 12 hours daily and slog seven days a week to sustain themselves and their families.