In a recent podcast, Nilesh Shah, the CEO of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company, made a bold statement adding to the work week debate after Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy’s 70-hour workweek remark.
Speaking on the podcast 'Invest Aaj For Kal with Anant Ladha,' shah made a statement suggesting, that a generation of Indians should work 84 hours a week to 'accelerate India’s growth' and also will help “transfer everyone to middle and upper-income levels”.
Shah's Argument on Long Working hours
Speaking on the podcast Shah added an example from one of Charlie Munger’s books.
He explained that people in Korea worked 84 hours a week for one generation, which equates to 12 hours a day, every day, every month, every year.
Shah added that hardworking nations like Korea, China, and Japan have set examples of how long work hours can contribute to economic prosperity.
He suggested that if Indians adopted a similar work ethic, the country could eradicate extreme poverty and elevate a large portion of its population to middle and upper-income levels.
Economist Sanjeev Sanyal took to X, formerly Twitter added his support for Shah’s 12-hour workweek remark and wrote, "I agree. One generation will have to put in that effort ….. and unlike the examples mentioned, also remember to procreate. It is doable (with the occasional break). We are that generation and perhaps the next one."
Netizens Reaction
Shah’s comments have triggered a widespread debate on social media. While some agree with the idea of longer work hours to boost economic growth, others raise concerns about the potential impact on workers' health and well-being.
"2 hrs of work..but what kind of work? I believe 10 hrs is good enough. 1 hr dedicated to nation building, like sweeping/cleaning roads of you own area, planting trees etc," responded an X user to Shah's 84 hours work week.
Another user added, "We work to have good personal life. Nation is all about a group of people live happy lives with their loved ones. And having to only work to build so called lifeless nation is useless in all senses. Just stay away from such companies and leaders."
"So that Mr Shah/Mr Kotak can buy their next whatever apartment, property car holiday blah blah. While the average MBA Suresh(Patil/Singh/Chaube/Reddy) from Mira Road/Dombivli burns out in his 40s putting in 18 hrs per day(14 work+ 4 travel) for his 3 lakhs PA CTC given by Kotak," said another X user.
