‘How long can you stare at your wife?’: L&T Chairman advocates 90-hour work week months after Narayana Murthy’s 70 hour pitch

After Infosys’ Narayana Murthy’s 70-hour work week controversy, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman

SN Subrahmanyan

has stirred a fresh debate on

work-life balance

with his advocacy of 90 hour work weeks. In an undated video, which is going viral on social media, SN Subrahmanyan can be seen advocating for working Sundays.
His comments, captured during what appears to be an internal meeting, emerged on Reddit and received significant backlash from users.
Reacting to the video, an L&T spokesperson told Times of India Online, “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.”
During the recorded interaction, when questioned about mandatory Saturday work at L&T, Mr Subrahmanyan said, “I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays, to be honest. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy, because I work on Sundays also.”

He proceeded to dismiss the value of time spent at home, saying, “What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands? Get to the office and start working.”
To support his position, the L&T chairman shared an interaction with a Chinese individual who attributed China’s potential to overtake the United States to their intensive work culture.
According to Subrahmanyan, the Chinese person said, “Chinese people work 90 hours a week, while Americans work only 50 hours a week.” Building on this comparison, Subrahmanyan encouraged L&T staff to adopt similar working hours.
He concluded by saying, “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.”
Subrahmanyan has come under social media backlash with users targeting him for not worrying about one’s mental health and rather focusing on getting the work done.
A user wrote that rather than competing with China, they would prefer spending time with their family.
“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.”
Another user referred to Narayan Murthy’s 70 hour working week, comparing the two,
“Even Narayan Murthy was saying 70 hours. This man saying 90 hours.. my god. That’s some arrogance and ignorance.”