90-hr workweek controversy: ITC Chairman says flexibility, employee empowerment more important

NEW DELHI: Weighing in on the 90-hour workweek controversy, ITC Ltd Chairman Sanjiv Puri said that it is more important for the workers to be aligned to the grander vision of the company rather than the number of hours put in.

Giving an analogy of many workers building a castle, he said, "If you ask a mason what he is doing, he might say he is laying a brick, another might say he is building a wall but some might say he is building a castle. It is that vision that workers should have," he told PTI in an interview.

Asked if he is saying that mean if he would rather not put a number to the work hours at ITC, he said, "We would not do that."

"We would rather like people to be part of the journey (of the company) and feel passionately involved and kind of feel the urge amongst themselves to make a difference to the enterprise. That's how we look at it".

The cigarettes-to-consumer goods conglomerate allows a flexible work environment, including work from home on two days every week, he said.

ITC, he said, provides a lot of flexibility in working. "Also two days a week, you can work from home," he said.

"So it's not so much about, you know, really monitoring each individual's number of hours. It's more about enabling individuals, helping them to actualise their potential, and then reviewing what goals people have achieved.

His comments follow a controversy SN Subrahmanyan, Chairman and Managing Director of India's largest engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro Ltd, sparked on social media when he said employees should work 90-hour a week including on Sundays rather than sit at home.

"I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays," Subrahmanyan said in an undated video of his discussion with staff.

"What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife, and how long can the wife stare at the husband."

The video, which was circulated widely on social media platforms X and Linkedin, led to heated debate about work-life balance.

"I know that he (Subrahmanyan) has been debated a lot, but let me tell you the philosophy with which you look at it," Puri said.

He then went on to explain how empowering the employees with the company vision and goal was important.

Vision, values and vitality are what ITC is all about, he added.

"So we put a lot of effort in making sure that everybody understands the vision of the enterprise. We use a part of the vision and want to contribute to making the vision a reality. And we enable vitality by our processes, by the resources we provide, by the freedom to act, that we provide, the empowerment that we provide, which are very different and very clear goals for individuals to achieve, and these are the primary things that we look at," he said.

While Subrahmanyan's comments sparked a heated debate about work-life balance in the country, a Larsen & Toubro spokesperson last week said that the chairman's remarks reflect the company's "larger ambition".

"We believe this is India’s decade, a time demanding collective dedication and effort to drive progress and realise our shared vision of becoming a developed nation," the company had said in a statement.

L&T head's views drew criticism from some peers in the business community. RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka said longer working hours was a recipe for burnout and not success.

Subrahmanyan's comments followed Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy's suggestion of a 70-hour workweek and Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani's "biwi bhaag jayegi (wife will run away)" remark if one spent more than eight hours at home.

"Your idea of work-life balance should not be imposed on me and my idea shouldn't be imposed on you. Say, someone spends four hours with family and finds joy in it, or if someone else spends 8 hours and enjoys it, that is their work-life balance," he had said last month.

"Aath ghante family ke saath bitayega tho biwi bhaag jaayegi (Wife will leave if one spends eight hours with family)," he had said.

The work-life balance debate echoes a similar one in China where the so-called 996 culture - the three digits describe a punishing schedule of 9 am to 9 pm six days a week - is being debated.