Opinion: 70-Hour Work Week? Young Indians Should Seize The Opportunity

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy's statement on how India's work culture should be has triggered a massive debate on social media. Mr Murthy's statement on low productivity of Indians as compared to the developed economies and that young Indians should work 70 hours every week to make India a developed nation has gathered support as well as criticism. He also said that in order to compete with countries like China, the country's youngsters must put in extra hours of work as Japan and Germany did after World War II. There are strong views from people on the importance of work-life balance and there are equally strong counter-views. Mr Murthy's idea was supported by prominent figures such as JSW Chairman Sajjan Jindal and Ola CEO Bhavish Agarwal. Marico group chairman Harsh Mariwala differed stating, "It is not about the hours clocked in. It's about the quality and passion one brings to those hours."

Mr Murthy's opinions, seen in context of a proud entrepreneur and an icon in the IT sector, who for the first time is watching India gain global respect due to its economic growth and wants the country to consolidate it anyhow. Young Indians should seize the opportunity. India is on the economic growth path and is set to surpass Japan and Germany by 2030, according to the latest commentary by S&P Global Market Intelligence. At present, India is ranked fifth in terms of the size of its economy at $3.7 trillion in 2023-24. "India's nominal GDP measured in USD terms is forecast to rise from $3.5 trillion in 2022 to $7.3 trillion by 2030. This rapid pace of economic expansion would result in the size of the Indian GDP exceeding Japanese GDP by 2030, making India the second largest economy in the Asia-Pacific region," the S&P report says. The US at present is the world's largest economy with a GDP of $25.5 trillion. It makes up for a quarter of the world's GDP. China is the second-largest economy with a GDP size of about $18 trillion, which is almost 17.9 per cent of the world GDP. Japan is a distant third with $4.2 trillion GDP, followed by Germany with $4 trillion GDP. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects India to grow by 5.9 per cent in FY 2023-24, as against global economic growth of 2.8 per cent, and by an average rate of 6.1 per cent over the next five years.

There are reasons for analogy with Germany and Japan as both these countries rose after the Second World War to become the strong economic powers that they are today. The transformation of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan into peaceful, prosperous and vibrant democracies till date remain the golden standards of nation building. Both these countries carried out reforms, reconstruction and reintegration of their societies into western communities since 1945. China began to open and reform its economy in 1978, and its GDP growth averaged over 9 per cent a year for many years. China was in 13th place in 2000 and has been sitting in second place since 2010, surpassing Japan.

To become the world's largest economy by 2047, India needs to grow at 14 per cent every year, assuming the rupee remains stable against the dollar. This is an achievable figure possible by keeping each determinant of growth like labour, investment, human capital and total factor productivity at its best. In between 2006-2011, India's annual growth rate was around 14 per cent. Mr Murthy probably doesn't want India to miss this growth bus and hence, is exhorting Indians to become more productive by putting long hours at work. Myriad data show that labour productivity in India's organised manufacturing sector continues its downward spiral and was significantly lower than global peers.

Except MNCs, Indian IT and ITeS sector, consulting firms, central government which work five days a week, most other sectors - retail, hospitality, healthcare, several Indian conglomerates, police, armed forces, manufacturing - have six days working week. So, the brouhaha around Mr Murthy's comment is emanating from those who see a potential threat to their five days weekly working. Professionals - doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants, architects, journalists - and entrepreneurs, big or small, work long hours, even working on Sundays and holidays to serve clients and gain the extra edge in the tough marketplace.

There is a flip side to stretching Mr Murthy's suggestion. If followed in letter and not spirit, it may lead to lifestyle diseases and curtail life-span. It also could lead to marital discord and impact balanced upbringing of children if the working parent is unable to devote enough time, particularly in situations where both parents are working or the commute to work is long. But then prioritising health and family life is a choice best made by the person in question and there can't be a social or organisation norm around it.

If one must see the nation rising from its present situation and become a developed nation, at least a couple of generations over the next few decades must work hard, more productively and smartly to help reap the demographic dividend as well as achieve the growth potential to the fullest. With a relatively young population, India not only gets a competitive advantage in terms of workforce but also an opportunity to unleash the consumption power of a young population. Let us see the intent of Murthy's statement for the nation. For once, we should stop thinking as 'individuals' and start thinking and behaving as 'citizens'.

(Bharti Mishra Nath is a senior journalist).

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.