Shark Tank India's Namita Thapar On 70-Hour Work Week: ''Will We Ever Find Time For Family?''

Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy stirred a little storm on X when he said young people should work 70 hours a week to level up the country's productivity. His remarks on India's work culture invited both harsh criticism and voices of agreement. Reacting to his comments, several prominent business leaders and entrepreneurs have also been expressing their opinions on social media. Now, Shark Tank India judge and executive director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals Namita Thapar has joined the ongoing debate and rejected the 70-work week advice. She questioned the impact of such long working hours on family time and mental health. 

''Halloween shenanigans are always fun, kiddos & I made these goodies, @AnupamMittal if we listen to you & other experts about working 70 hours/ week (plus horrendous commute time) will we ever find time for family, creating precious memories & most importantly for mental health?'' Ms Thapar wrote on X, along with a video of Halloween celebrations with her family.

Here's the post:
 

Halloween shananigans are always fun, kiddos & me made these goodies,@AnupamMittal if we listen to you & other experts about working 70 hour/ week (plus horrendous commute time) will we ever find time for family, creating precious memories & most importantly for mental health ?🙄 pic.twitter.com/0NIkrfII2f

— Namita (@namitathapar) October 31, 2023

Her comments came after fellow Shark Tank India judge and Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal shared his photo with the Shark Tank India judges and wrote, “After all these years, still working 70-hour weeks.''

Reacting to her post, Mr Mittal replied, ''Not counting but am pretty sure you are up there in terms of weekly hours. Better to embrace and find work-life harmony than to continue to be torn between work-life balance.''

Several internet users completely agreed with her remarks and voiced their opinions. One user wrote, ''Prioritizing mental health and creating precious memories is just as important as any professional success'' Another commented, ''The guys preaching 70 hour work week probably won't understand the importance of spending good quality time with family, as they all are driven by their insecurities of whether they will be able to make a mark in the history or not.''

Previously, many business leaders, including Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola Cabs, Sajjan Jindal, chairman of JSW Group, CP Gurnani, Tech Mahindra CEO, and CRED's Kunal Shah, supported Mr Murthy's comments. 

Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai also defended Mr. Murthy's statement and shared data on how many hours urban men work in each state. As per the illustration, the Indian average stands at 61.6 hours per week. Mr. Pai asserted that ''Prosperity needs hard work, data shows''.

However, Dr Deepak Krishnamurthy, a Bengaluru-based cardiologist did not agree with Mr Murthy's take and noted that such inhumane working hours can create a whole generation with a host of heart-related comorbidities.