How long can you stare at your wife at home? Come to office and work 90-hr a week: L&T Chairman

New Delhi: After Infosys’ N. R. Narayana Murthy’s controversial 70-hour-a-week work, it is now the turn of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman S. N. Subrahmanyan, who has gone beyond Murthy’s work call, suggesting employees to work 90 hours a week – including Sundays – to stay competitive.

In a video message to employees that has gone viral on social media, Subrahmanyan sparked a controversy with his comments, suggesting employees should work 90 hours a week.

“What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can wives stare at their husbands? Go to the office and start working,” he said during an internal interaction with employees.

“Honestly, I am sorry that I am not able to make you work on Sundays. I will be happier if I can make you work on Sundays, because I work on Sundays too,” said the L&T Chairman.

The L&T chief also shared an anecdote to justify his stance. Subrahmanyan spoke about a conversation he had with a Chinese man who said that China could overtake the US because of its strong work ethic.

According to Subrahmanyan, the Chinese man said, “Chinese people work 90 hours a week, while Americans work only 50 hours a week.”

In his video message, Subrahmanyan also encouraged L&T employees to work harder.

The video received a backlash from netizens on social media platforms, including online discussion forum Reddit, with many users comparing it to Infosys founder Murthy’s statement about working 70 hours a day.

A user wrote: “I work in L&T and had to sit through this entire thing, imagine our horror! We blame Narayan Murthy for the 70-hour work week.”

Another user posted: “Why CEOs, who are highly paid and have different job pressures, expect the same level of commitment from lower-paid employees. Why don’t companies offer different types of working hours? What if a company had different options? 40 hours a week, 30 hours a week, 50 hours a week, 70 hours a week. More pay for more hours?”

–IANS