Suresh Subrahmanyan 

Chairman of one of India’s largest corporate entities, S.N. Subrahmanyan of Larsen & Toubro, has riled a lot of people for making a couple of ill-advised statements recently. At the outset, I wish to make it clear that, notwithstanding that he spells his surname the same way as I do, we are in no way related or connected. He has been reported as saying two things that got the goat of many citizens. Firstly, that all companies should make their employees slog for 90 hours every week, Sundays presumably being optional, or even included. It is not clear from the reports if public holidays should also be barred.

As if cracking the whip all year round was not bad enough, the company’s chief whip (a serendipitously apposite description) went on to question the dubious pleasure of sitting at home and staring at the wife all Sunday. To be fair to the man, he added that this will be equally tiresome for the wife who might wish for nothing more than for her worse half  to leave her alone. Closely reasoned, but his pronouncements did not sit well with the public.

The newspapers, social media and most television channels have already covered this corporate contretemps with varying observations. A former friend and colleague of mine who had worked briefly at Larsen & Toubro, told me the company employed so many Sindhis and Tamilians that they code-named it Larsani and Toubrohmanyan! True story that.

The fact that the wife-staring utterance attracted far more media attention than the ‘90-hour week’ remark, speaks for itself. For myself, I thought it may be a good idea to talk to a few people and see what they had to say about the idea of employees working round the clock. I was privy to a few interesting responses. All names have been changed and the wife-staring bit left out. My question to all respondents was the same. ‘It is being mooted that 90-hour workweeks, 7 days a week, should be the way to go if companies want to perform to their optimal potential. How do you react to this idea?’

Sheela (IT Group Head): “The idea is not compatible with live brain activity. In the IT industry, we work our backsides off speaking to people with indecipherable accents in Texas, Ohio, Manchester, Warsaw and many other cities with punishing time-zone difference. Frankly, I have no idea how many hours a week my team puts in, even allowing for Sundays off. If it is not over 90 hours, I will change my pseudo name.”

Walter (Creative Consultant): “Clients always want to look at everything for approval, from press ad layouts to film storyboards, instantly. Wanted yesterday, as we say in the agency. Which leaves us with no option but to burn the candle at both ends, rum and pizzas supplied on the house and billed as part of creative fees to client. Workaholism feeds on alcoholism. Next morning, bleary-eyed, we make the presentation to the client who rejects it, asks us to come up with a fresh iteration, this time wanted (you guessed it) the day before yesterday.  90 hours, did you say? Piece of cake.”

Ramachandran (Bank Manager): “The order just came in from H.O. 90 hours to be logged each week. I have decided to keep the branch open till 11 pm every day. That way, at least the customers will benefit by taking advantage of the extended banking hours. I have put in a requisition for sanction of free dinner for all branch employees.”

Avantika (Travel agency executive): “Hardly anyone comes to us for domestic or international bookings. I spend all my time with a group of IT nerds to try and virally infect the computer programmes of all online travel companies, forcing customers to come to our office for help. So far, no luck. Brick and mortar will lose out to digital space. We will be lucky if some of us are not apprehended by the cops sooner than later. Can you blame us? If we are forced to work for 90 hours a week, we have to keep ourselves busy. By hook or by crook.”

Banerjee (Retired MNC Director): “Back in the day, we clocked in at 9 am sharp. Some good-natured flirting with the secretary, followed by checking files, dictating some letters till the tea service arrives. Discuss office politics with a colleague, attend an internal meeting on sales targets, kick some butt, then it’s time for lunch. A short drive home for a bite followed by a catnap, and back in office at 3 pm. Time passes and it’s back home by 5.30 pm. Those were the days.”

There you have it — the voice of the people. They are being asked to work for 55 percent of their week hours, all because the man at the corner office has had his fill of staring at his better half with little to show for it. I can do no better than quote the opening lines from Welsh poet William Henry Davies’ Leisure, ‘What is this life if, full of care / We have no time to stand and stare.’

(Suresh Subrahmanyan is a Bengaluru-based former advertising professional)