A well-known Indian entrepreneur, N.R. Narayana Murthy, thinks young Indians should work very long hours to make India a strong global economy. He believes they should put in 70 hours of work each week. He says India needs young people who are highly determined, disciplined, and hardworking.
Mr. Murthy mentioned that this is what Germany and Japan did after World War II to boost their economies. He co-founded Infosys, a large software company, in 1981, and it became one of the world’s major outsourcing firms.
He’s also related to the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. He’s concerned that Indian youth are picking up unhelpful habits from the West, which is affecting India’s work productivity, making it one of the lowest in the world.
He believes India should learn from other successful countries like China. He thinks business leaders in India should encourage young people to work hard because India is gaining global respect now.
India’s economy is growing fast, but Mr. Murthy’s idea of long hours is different from what’s happening in the West and China. In China, many young people are rejecting the “996” work culture (working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week). In the United States, a trend called “quiet quitting” is emerging, where people refuse to do extra work beyond their job descriptions.
Many people on social media disagreed with Mr. Murthy. Several surveys have shown that Indians already feel they work too much and don’t get paid enough.
