In 2024, work-life balance became a central topic of discussion on social media. The conversation had gained national prominence in 2023 when Infosys founder Narayana Murthy advocated for a 70-hour work week, a suggestion that was immediately and overwhelmingly online. The debate carried into 2024, with increasing numbers of business leaders weighing in on the challenge of balancing personal and professional priorities.
Work-life balance: a discussion
Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal was among those who endorsed Narayana Murthy’s views on longer working hours. He was not the only CEO who felt employees should work more for the benefit of the nation - several others weighed in on the matter this year.
Both Murthy and Aggarwal couched their preference for longer workdays in terms of nation-building and national interest, but critics asked why low-paid employees should lose sleep and work extra hard to line up the pockets of their employers.
2024 was also the year when the Karnataka state cabinet proposed extending the daily work hours in the IT/ITeS sector to 14 hours a day. The proposal was met with massive backlash and eventually put on hold. The discussion on work-life balance took a more tragic turn with the death of a young employee being attributed to work-related stress.
Even as employees called for greater compassion and better labour laws, there were CEOs who reiterated their calls for longer working hours. Among such number was Daksh Gupta, the Indian-origin CEO who faced extreme backlash after revealing that his employees are expected to work more than 14 hours a day.
CEO’s controversial call for 14-hour work days
{{/usCountry}}Even as employees called for greater compassion and better labour laws, there were CEOs who reiterated their calls for longer working hours. Among such number was Daksh Gupta, the Indian-origin CEO who faced extreme backlash after revealing that his employees are expected to work more than 14 hours a day.
CEO’s controversial call for 14-hour work days
{{/usCountry}}Daksh Gupta is the Indian-origin CEO of AI startup Greptile. In November, he became the target of online hate after he shared a post on the social media platform X claiming his startup offered no work-life balance.
“Greptile offers no work-life-balance, typical workdays start at 9am and end at 11pm, often later, and we work Saturdays, sometimes also Sundays,” he posted.
“I emphasise that the environment is high stress, and there is no tolerance for poor work,” said the San Francisco-based CEO.
In an interview a few days later, he likened the intensity of his company's work culture to a "rocket launch".
"It's a rocket launch in some ways," the 23-year-old told NBC Bay Area. “If you care about work-life balance, I think that's great. There's plenty of places that operate that way and they're very successful,” he said.