70-90-48.5-42.5 or 35?- what should be your work week- a Point of View from your friend in Powai!
Like they say, "Samajhdar ko ishara hi kaafi hai", I am sure you have guessed by now that I am jumping in the effervescent plus current debate on working hours!
Pardon the French for even suggesting 35 hours- I mean how dare they, when the nation building requirement is minimum 70 hours. The legal and HR team has been scratching their head as to how will the math of 70 hours per week work? Because, just-because, the white collar roles are not technically eligible for over time to Matlab aap kuch phi karoge and bologe? Who will give hisaab of this additional 21.5 or 27.5 hours.
Wait, I am still catching up, the nation building requirement has now increased to 90 hours. Well let's see how that math works out! And it wasn't me who was worried about this math, but my son's quizzical look on his face, when he saw me laughing, reading the famous financial news paper editorial today. At first, I had to make L&T relevant to him, which wasn't difficult as the real estate portfolio asset was close to where we used to stay. But nonetheless, to make it sound simple to a child, I had to decode the words of USD 6.5 Million annual earning senior professional, as follows:-
My son, this person expects people in his company to work 7 AM to 8 PM from Monday to Saturday and 7 AM to 7 PM on Sundays, and my son's response was Whaattttt - can someone even work so much. But he was trying to be reasonable and said yeah but this includes work travel, and I said no! that comes on top! and he only used one word Impossible!
But this conversation wasn't ending and he wanted explanation, so we tried to play the 'Aumsum' game, for those of you who have tiny toddlers- you may follow this...
So if a person works for those many hours and is not at home, what will happen:-
it started simply... then the person will not be able to rest and will always be restless and will roam around with red eyes like a zombie.
The person will not be able to meet his/her family members and then the family will have to recognise him/her from photographs and then as they age, the families won't recognise them
To be able to talk to the person the family may have to only rely on video calling and that will take away lot of data band width and will cause global warming
Then (and if ) they have kids, then how can they attend PTM, annual days, fete etc. and then families may have to rent mumma/ papa for these events
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The person won't be able to do join the kids for play dates or (papa!) even meet their friends and do home parties which means the restaurants and caterers will not get any business and they will run out of money
Then the person will only have some holidays and all the masti has to happen only on those holidays and all the holiday destinations will then be super crowded.
My son wanted to be reasonable and after this series of assumptions said, but Papa you are joking right! I convinced myself that perhaps it was a joke but then the affirmative response from the company made sure that it wasn't a joke.
Alas, we stay in times, when some folks are still stuck with the idea of glorifying work hours!
I do hope nation gets built, else how will we be better than France with working twice or thrice as much.
But who cares because the famous men dropping these pearls of wisdom from their hi-rise mansions and multiple million dollar asset base with their relatives as prime-ministers of other countries, surely aren't working 90 hours!
While Kaka from Gujrat recently said that if he works for 70 hours, his wife will run away- along came the rejoinder from 6.5mn a year boss-man- why stare at your wife's face in any case!
And we live another day!
Strategic Visionary | Accomplished GM & Business Head | Mastery in Product Management, Sales, and Operations | Orchestrating Triumph Across India & South Asia. Guided by Principles:Integrity, Intensity, and Innovation
1 个月Hi Sumek, you captured the essence of the debate perfectly. Thank you for presenting the perspective so clearly and simply.
Talent Management | HR Leadership | TA PAI Top 100 Young HR Leaders (2023 & 2022) | ATD & Brandon Hall Winner in Talent Management | PGDM GIM HR Rank 1 | ADEPT certified by AON I
1 个月Very nicely captured Sumek G. ! Thanks for sharing
Global HR Shared Services ~25 Countries I Talent Acquisition I Global Project Transitions I HR Service Delivery I Process Excellence
1 个月Wow, you've captured the essence of the debate on working hours quite vividly! It's indeed a hot topic, especially with such extreme expectations being discussed. Your son's reaction is quite relatable—90 hours a week does sound impossible and unsustainable for any among the living human race. The idea of working such long hours raises many concerns, as you and your son humorously pointed out. It can lead to burnout, strained family relationships, and a lack of work-life balance. The hypothetical scenarios you discussed with your son highlight the absurdity of expecting people to work so much without considering the human cost. It's important to remember that productivity isn't just about the number of hours worked but also about the quality of work and the well-being of employees. Many studies have shown that overworking can actually decrease productivity and creativity in the long run. Your reflections on this topic are thought-provoking and bring to light the need for a more balanced approach to work. How do you think companies can better support their employees to achieve a healthier work-life balance?