"No Work-Life Balance In Startups": Naukri.com Boss Backs Narayana Murthy

Ever since Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy advocated for a 70-hour work week to enhance India's overall work productivity, influential figures from various sectors have engaged in debates over his statement. Now Sanjeev Bikhchandani, chairman of Naukri.com, has joined the ranks of those backing Mr Murthy's proposal.

"You can't push off at 5 pm and say 'ab ho gaya' [now I am done]. You can't say 'Saturday, Sunday main kaam nahi karta' [I don't work on weekends]. Apko karna padega [you will have to], if you want to succeed," Mr Bikhchandani said on the Indian Silicon Valley Podcast.

"Ek kamyab entrepreneur dikha do [show me one successful entrepreneur] who in the first 5-10 years did not have this work ethic and succeeded. It doesn't happen. So, nobody is saying work 70 hours by the clock, but you may have to," he added.

During the initial years as a startup founder, he emphasized that achieving work-life balance is typically challenging. "If you look at any entrepreneur in India right now who has succeeded, ask 'tune kitni mehnat ki' [how hard have you worked?]. He will say 'maine bahot mehnat ki' [I have worked very hard']. Because to make something work in India you got to put in the hours. The truth is if you're doing a startup, there is no work-life balance. There's only work-life integration. You live for your work for the first few years."

Mr Bikhchandani explained, "70 hours a week is not religion. I think the concept was to be prepared to work as hard as required and that may be much harder than you're working right now. Aapko mehnat karni padegi [you will have to work hard]. Hopefully, you won't mind doing it, because you want to build that startup. This is not a lecture, this is reality,” he added.

Watch the full interviewhere

Reflecting on the initial phase of his career, he said, "My first three years in advertising -- it was technically a 5-day week - 9:15 to 5:45. But, I used to be in the office till 8:30. I went the extra mile. I didn't take a single day's leave. I worked all Saturdays, maybe Sundays, for 3 years,” he added. 

He also discussed the practice of working late shifts to access company amenities like dinner and transportation. "I didn't feel it was a burden, I was enthusiastic about my work. The work demanded it. I was transferred to Bombay and I was living with a paying guest and my salary just wasn't enough. But, if you ended up working late, beyond 8:30, you got dinner and transport back home. You came on Saturday, Sunday, you got dinner, you got transport back to and from, and you got lunch. So, I would volunteer. I simply needed to. I didn't complain," he said.

Narayana Murthy had earlier said that he used to work 85-90 hours a week until his retirement. He had clarified that the specific number -- in this case, 70 hours --  is not the main focus. Instead, productivity should take precedence. He drew comparisons to post-World War II practices in Germany and Japan, underscoring their emphasis on productivity as a crucial element in their economic recovery.