Narayana Murthy recently stirred the corporate pot with his proposition of a grueling 70-hour workweek for young professionals. This bold suggestion has ignited a firestorm of debate in the corporate sector, dividing opinions sharply. Enter Harsh Goenka, the Chairman of RPG Enterprises, who wasted no time in sharing his perspective on this contentious issue.
In a tweet, Goenka made it abundantly clear that he stood at odds with Narayana Murthy’s stance. Emphatically advocating for hybrid work models, Goenka proclaimed, “The traditional 5-day office week is dead!” His argument revolved around the essential need for workplace flexibility, a quality he held in high regard. Goenka even went as far as asserting that flexible work arrangements held a value equivalent to an 8% salary increase, highlighting the paradigm shift in today’s work landscape.
Goenka’s response came swiftly, hot on the heels of Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani, who threw his support behind Narayana Murthy’s unconventional proposal. Gurnani underscored the importance of looking beyond the surface and recognizing the broader picture that Murthy had painted during his conversation with TV Mohandas Pai, focusing on nation-building and character development. Anupam Mittal, the CEO of Shaadi.com, also rallied in support of Murthy’s ideas with a cleverly captioned selfie.
In contrast, Goenka championed the concept of hybrid work arrangements, declaring it to be both the present and the future. He stressed that the path to professional success was no longer confined to a rigid 50 or 70-hour workweek but rather depended on aligning one’s ambition and productivity effectively. According to Goenka, the key was to seamlessly blend office and remote work to suit individual needs, making it more about personal ambition, purpose, and productivity than the number of hours clocked. He encouraged his followers to embrace this transformative shift and adapt to the evolving work landscape, a sentiment that resonated with many in the midst of this spirited debate.
