Putting the ‘70-hour work week’ idea into perspective; Narayana Murthy just gave some very bad advice

Source: This post has been created based on the articles “Putting the ‘70-hour work week’ idea into perspective” published in The Hindu and “Narayana Murthy just gave some very bad advice” published in The Indian Express on 31^st October 2023.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 Indian Economy – Indian Economy and issues relating to employment.

News: This article discusses the arguments in favour and against increasing the number of working hours in India.

Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy recently said that young Indians must work for 70 hours a week. Assuming a 6-day work week, this means that Indians would have to work 11.5 hours of work a day.

More on this issue here.

How many hours does an average young Indian work at present?

According to the Time Use Survey conducted in India in 2019:

1) A person aged 15-29 spends over 7.2 hours a day in employment and related activities in rural areas.

2) A person aged 15-29 spends around 8.5 hours a day in employment and related activities in urban areas.

What are the merits in increasing the number of working hours?

1) Nation-building and economic growth: Nation building is hard work, and it requires discipline and determination.

2) India’s work productivity is one of the lowest in the world: Raising this will be required to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress.

3) Negative perception of low number of working hours: Most Asian countries, including India, equate flexible work hours or an employee’s need for work-life balance as a sign of lower commitment and competence.

What are the arguments against increasing the number of working hours?

1) Struggling workforce: Issues such as high stress, low income and lower work-life balance may increase. It also impacts mental health. Longer work hours also mean less time for sports and leisure.

2) More hours do not necessarily mean more productivity: On the contrary, as labour productivity increased in Germany and Japan, the average working hours reduced drastically.

3) Lack of sound data: It is difficult to accurately measure labour productivity given that 89% of the workforce is engaged in informal employment.

4) Negative Impact on women: The importance given to time spent at the workplace negatively impacts the female workforce, as discussed below.

Why are women at a disadvantage due to higher working hours?

For women, there is little to no free time, in contrast to men. There is a lack of support system to share the burden of work, such as the one that men enjoy.

For a young woman, there is a disproportionate responsibility of smaller tasks due to the assumption that they have less of other commitments.

For older women, the responsibility of household work leads to fatigue, guilt and anxiety.

Question for practice:

‘Increasing the number of working hours can propel economic growth in India, just like it did for Germany and Japan post-World War II.’ Critically analyse.