Jan 09, 2025 07:49 PM IST
L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan’s comments on employees working 90 hours weekly sparked criticism, prompting the company to clarify his remarks.
After the chairman of Larsen & Toubro said he regretted not being able to make his employees work on Sunday, the company issued a statement clarifying that his remarks emphasised that “extraordinary effort” is needed for “extraordinary outcomes”.
SN Subrahmanyan’s comments about wanting employees to work 90 hours a week have come under fire. During an employee interaction, he was asked why the multi-billion dollar company was still making its employees work on Saturdays. “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 said in an undated video now viral on Reddit.
He doubled down on his remarks and questioned what his employees did at home when they’re not working. “What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? Come on, get to the office and start working,” he said.
Watch the video here:
Now, the company has reiterated his remarks by saying that to drive growth in India, “a time demanding collective dedication and effort” is needed.
(Also read: ‘How long can you stare at your wife?’: L&T chairman says he wants employees to work on Sunday too)
What the company 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 realise our shared vision of becoming a developed nation,” they said.
Elaborating their chairman’s vision, an L&T Spokesperson, said, “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.”
After the video was shared on Reddit, Subrahmanyan was criticised for his remarks which were compared to a similar idea proposed by Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, who suggested that employees must work 70 hours a week.
“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’,” one user claimed.
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