Infosys founder Narayana Murthy stirs row with ‘work-life balance’ remark

Infosys founder also expressed his discontent with India’s transition from a six-day to a five-day workweek.

Despite facing criticism, Infosys founder Narayana Murthy remains firm in his stance on work ethic, unapologetically defending his famous 70-hour workweek remark and dismissing the concept of work-life balance.

Speaking at the CNBC-TV18 Global Leadership Summit, Narayana Murthy declared, “I don’t believe in work-life balance,” and expressed his discontent with India’s transition from a six-day to a five-day workweek.

“When we moved from a six-day to a five-day week in 1986, I was not happy. In this country, hard work is crucial because there’s no substitute for it. Even the most intelligent individuals must put in the effort,” he added.

Reflecting on the idea of work-life balance, he further shared an anecdote involving the chairman of Jio financial services, KV Kamath. “Around 25 years ago, Kamath was asked his opinion on work-life balance at an event. He said that India is a poor country with many challenges. We must first get a life, then worry about work-life balance,” the Infosys founder recalled.

Narayana Murthy also emphasized that his views on the ’70-hour workweek’ remain unchanged, noting that “Prime Minister Modi probably works 100 hours a week. When his cabinet ministers and bureaucrats are working tirelessly, the best way we can show appreciation is through our own hard work.”

He concluded, “I haven’t changed my view. I will take this belief to my grave. I’m proud to have worked hard for 14 hours a day and 6.5 days a week until I retired.”

Reactions of netizens over Infosys founder’s statement

After his statement went viral on social media, Narayana Murthy faced backlash from several users. One individual commented on Instagram, “He wants slaves, not employees,” while another argued, “In the era of AI, one needs to work smart, not hard.”

Another user raised a concern, asking, “What if both husband and wife are working? Both spend 14 hours in the office and then abandon their children?”

“Employees can expect work-life balance because they are paid a salary for their work. However, startup enthusiasts and aspiring business owners aiming to build a business must sacrifice work-life balance. The message isn’t for employees, but for business owners,” a user commented, explaining his view on Narayana Murthy’s stance.

Infosys founder previously appeared on the inaugural episode of 3one4 Capital’s podcast, ‘The Record,’ and stated that for Indian youth to compete with countries that have made significant progress in the past 25-30 years, they need to work 70 hours a week.

He claimed that India’s work productivity is one of the lowest in the world and said, “Our youth must say, This is my country. I want to work 70 hours a week. This is exactly what Germans and Japanese did after World War II.”

Two employees die from work-related stress in separate incidents

Recent events have highlighted the alarming issue of work-related stress in India, following the tragic deaths of two female employees. One such case involved an additional deputy vice-president at HDFC Bank’s Vibuti Khand branch in Lucknow who collapsed at her workplace leading to her untimely death, as reported by News18.

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On Tuesday afternoon, the employee visited the cafeteria on the second floor of her office building with colleagues. After a short while, she suddenly fainted and fell to the ground. Despite efforts from her colleagues to assist, she was declared dead upon arrival at RMLIMS, a nearby hospital.

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In a similar incident, Anna Sebastian Perayil, a young employee at Ernst & Young (EY) India, tragically passed away due to work-related stress. Having cleared her CA exams in 2023, Anna had joined EY just four months earlier and was part of the Audit team at S R Batliboi in Pune.