‘How long can you stare at your wife?’: L&T chief advocates 90-hour work week

After Infosys founder Narayana Murthy's call for a 70-hour work week sparked controversy, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) chairman S N Subrahmanyan has reignited the work-life balance debate by endorsing 90-hour work weeks for employees.

In a video circulating on social media, Subrahmanyan is seen advocating for working Sundays. The undated clip, reportedly from an internal meeting, surfaced on Reddit, drawing sharp criticism from users online.

In the video, when asked about mandatory Saturday work at L&T, Subrahmanyan said, "I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays, to be honest. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy, because I work on Sundays also."


He further said, “What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands? Get to the office and start working.”

L&T chairman’s video came under social media backlash with users asking why low-paid employees were expected to put in the same number of hours as a CEO.

One user referred to Narayan Murthy's 70-hour working week, comparing the two, "Even Narayan Murthy was saying 70 hours. This man saying 90 hours.. my god. That's some arrogance and ignorance."