Indian youth should work 70 hours a week, says Narayana Murthy

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy has stated that in order for India to compete with economies that have made significant advancements in the past two to three decades, young individuals should be prepared to put in 70 hours of work per week. Murthy appeared on the first episode of 3one4 Capital’s podcast The Record, which was released on YouTube today.

Narayana Murthy, in conversation with former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, said that India’s work productivity is among the lowest in the world. In order to compete with countries like China, India’s youngsters must put in extra hours of work like Japan and Germany did after World War 2.

We must enhance our work productivity, address government corruption to some extent, and tackle the bureaucratic delays in decision-making. If we don't make these improvements, we won't be able to match the progress achieved by countries that have made remarkable strides. So therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, This is my country. I’d like to work 70 hours a week, Murthy said, adding that this is exactly what the Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War. They made sure that every German worked extra hours for a certain number of years.