‘How long can you stare at your wife?’: L&T chairman says he wants employees to work on Sunday too
The chairman of Larsen & Toubro, SN Subrahmanyan, has come under fire for saying that employees should work 90 hours a week.
The chairman of Larsen & Toubro has come under fire for saying that employees must work 90 hours a week. During an employee interaction, SN Subrahmanyan was asked why Larsen & Toubro, a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, was still making its employees work on Saturdays.
Subrahmanyan replied that he regrets not being able to make his employees work on Sunday too.
“I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy, because I work on Sundays,” Subrahmanyan was heard saying in an undated video that has emerged on Reddit.
“What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife?” the chairman of Larsen & Toubro asked. “Come on, get to the office and start working.”
Subrahmanyan further gave the example of his interaction with a Chinese person who claimed China can beat the United States of America. Asked why that is, the Chinese man claimed that Chinese people work 90 hours a week, while Americans work only 50 hours a week.
“So that’s the answer for you. If you have got to be on top of the world.. You have to work 90 hours a week. Get going, guys. Come on,” he said.
Watch the video below:
The video was shared on Reddit where SN Subrahmanyan came under fire for his comments. Many people in the comments section compared him to Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, who earlier faced massive backlash for saying the youth must work 70 hours a week for nation building.
On Reddit, people asked why low-paid employees were expected to put in the same number of hours as a CEO.
“I don’t care about competing with China. Let China become number one; it doesn’t make any difference to me. I just want to sit with my family and enjoy the limited amount of time I have here on earth with my loved ones,” wrote one Reddit user.
“I was in that speech yesterday. Someone asked in L&T sick leave Is approved only if you fall sick two days, why and how come we can fall sick only day ? He said ‘then don’t fall sick’,” another claimed.
“That's why the craze for government jobs is at its peak in India. Private sector is only good at harassing employees,” a Reddit user said.
“Even Narayan Murthy was saying 70 hours. This man is saying 90 hours..” read one among dozens such comments.
Larsen & Toubro responds
In a statement to HT.com, a Larsen & Toubro spokesperson said, "At L&T, nation-building is at the core of our mandate. For over eight decades, we have been shaping India's infrastructure, industries, and technological capabilities.
"We believe this is India’s decade, a time demanding collective dedication and effort to drive progress and realize our shared vision of becoming a developed nation. The Chairman’s remarks reflect this larger ambition, emphasizing that extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary effort.
At L&T, we remain committed to fostering a culture where passion, purpose, and performance drive us forward.
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