70-hr work week: Vembu counters Murthy, warns of 'demographic suicide'

Zoho Corporation's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sridhar Vembu has jumped into the controversy surrounding the "70-hour work week" debate, stating that it is not worth it if such a culture leads to demographic decline.

Vembu's comments stand in stark contrast to Infosys co-founder and billionaire Narayana Murthy, who has on many occasions advocated for India to leverage its demographic dividend to compete with bigger economies like China. Since then, the issue has caught national attention, with people debating whether it is the right approach to work towards economic progress.

Vembu has argued that it's acceptable for most of the population to focus on "work-life balance," while a small percentage drives themselves hard. He points out that the extreme work culture in East Asian countries has come at the cost of "low birth rates," and now their governments are urging people to have more children. He asserts that development is possible without working to the point of "demographic suicide."

"The rationale behind the 70-hour work week is 'it is necessary for economic development.' If you look at East Asia—Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China—they have all developed through extreme hard work, often imposing punitive levels of work on their own people. These very countries also have such low birth rates now that their governments have to beg people to make babies," Vembu said.

He elaborates further, asking: "Two questions arise: 1) Is such hard work necessary for economic development? 2) Is such development even worth the price of a lonely old age for a large mass of people?"

In his response, Vembu advocates for a balance, suggesting that only a fraction of the population (2-5%) needs to "drive themselves hard," while the rest of society can focus on maintaining a work-life balance.

"It is enough if only a small percentage of the population drive themselves hard. Please note the 'drive themselves'—I am in that camp, but I am not willing to prescribe this to anyone else. Some percentage of the population will drive themselves hard (maybe 2-5%). I believe that is sufficient for broad-based economic development, and the rest of us can have a decent work-life balance. I believe such a balance is needed," he said.

Answering his second question of whether such a work culture is even worth the price of a lonely old age for a large mass of people, Vembu says it is not worth it. "I don't want India to replicate China's economic success if the price is China's steep demographic decline (which has already started). India is already at replacement-level fertility (southern states are well below that already), and further declines to East Asian levels won't be good," he cautions.

Vembu's comments contradict what Murthy has advocated in the recent past. In an interview with Infosys' former chief financial officer Mohandas Pai, Murthy said India would not be able to compete with countries that have made tremendous progress without improving productivity levels.

“India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world. Unless we improve our work productivity, we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress. So, therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, 'This is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours a week,’” Murthy said.

In November 2024, during a TV interview with CNBC TV18, Murthy reiterated his belief in the 70-hour workweek and dismissed the concept of work-life balance. “I don't believe in work-life balance… I have not changed my view; I will take this with me to my grave,” he said.

He also expressed dissatisfaction with the shift from a six-day workweek to a five-day workweek in the 1990s. "I think in this country, we have to work very hard because there is no substitute for hard work, even if you're the most intelligent guy,” he said.

Murthy recounted that during his Infosys days, he used to work 14 hours every day, 6.5 days a week until he retired.

Some people, however, do not subscribe to Murthy's views and have called the debate meaningless. On December 23, 2024, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said via X that "working longer is meaningless; the focus should be on efficiency."

He went on to advocate for a 4-day workweek, from 12 noon on Monday to 2 pm on Friday. "Daily life is, as it is, a struggle, battling inefficient and substandard infrastructure and amenities. Work-life balance is most important for good social order and harmony," Chidambaram said.