Shantanu Deshpande, the head of Bombay Shaving Company, made an intriguing observation on LinkedIn that most Indian employees are not content with their jobs. He further speculated that many would opt out of work entirely if their financial needs were met.
In his post, he said that the sole reason why Indian employees return to offices every day is for financial security and sustenance.
"One of the tragic and late realisations I've had is - most people don't like their jobs. If everyone in India was given sustenance money and financial security their current jobs give them, 99 percent won't show up to work the next day," Mr Deshpande wrote. "From blue collar workforce to govt employees to gig workers to factories to insurance salesmen to banks to small business owners to even 'fun and employee-friendly startups' like BSC (my HR is gonna kill me) - the story is the same. 19-20 ka farak (There's hardly a difference)."
Deshpande likened the country's work culture to chasing a dangling carrot. He said, "To usurp someone away from their homes and families all day from morning to night, sometimes for days and weeks, with a hanging carrot of a paycheck - we just assume it's alright to do that cos that's what's been happening for 250+ years. That's how nations have been built. So we do it."
The Bombay Shaving Company CEO also addressed the wealth disparity in the country, pointing out that only 2,000 families control a significant portion of the nation's wealth. While the precise figures remain unclear, Mr Deshpande emphasised that these families pay less than 1.8 percent of the taxes.
Mr Deshpande concluded his post by sharing his personal reflections on the inequality inherent in such a work culture and urged those with resources to "be kind and generous, and help lift as many people up as possible."
