Suniel Shetty, the celebrated Bollywood actor, recently shared his thoughts on the recent debate sparked by Narayana Murthy’s statement advocating for a 70-hour workweek for young people. Taking to LinkedIn, Shetty emphasized the importance of carefully considering and analyzing the perspective of a figure as influential as Narayana Murthy.
In his post, Shetty highlighted that the essence of Murthy’s message transcends the specific number of hours. “It’s about going beyond your comfort zone,” Shetty expressed, underlining the significance of pushing boundaries and challenging oneself, a sentiment echoed by the lives of renowned figures like Virat Kohli, Amitabh Bachchan, and Ratan Tata, whom he cited as examples of individuals who attained extraordinary success by consistently surpassing conventional limits.
Here’s Suniel Shetty’s full take on the matter:
“Do we really think any of these individuals spent the early years of their careers worrying about whether they were striking the right balance between work & life? I’m sure they didn’t,” Shetty remarked, emphasizing the singular focus and unwavering dedication that propelled these leaders to the pinnacles of their respective fields.
Reflecting on his own experiences, Shetty acknowledged the value of pushing oneself beyond perceived limits during the formative years. Drawing from his personal journey, he underscored the importance of honing skills, embracing challenges, and seizing opportunities as fundamental priorities for young adults.
In a candid revelation, Shetty shared that if he could revisit his youth, he would dedicate more time to learning and growth, underscoring his commitment to both professional responsibilities and personal well-being, even during his early years of managing restaurants while maintaining a rigorous fitness routine.
Shetty totally missed the mark
Shetty, like many other CEOs and businessmen before him, has missed the point around the 70-hour workweek debate. Shetty fails to see what the actual issue employees have with this mindset. Young people are not against working a 70-hour workweek, most already work more than that; what the youth of India is against is earning for 40-hour workweek while working for 70.
After furor by the internet, many rich businesspeople crawled out of their mansions and credited their hard work to their success. All of them reiterated how they became rich and successful on the back of burning the midnight oil. No one however accredited the workers who were fooled into overworking for them. Now that the new crop of employees rejects overworking for others, rich businesspeople are certainly a little worried.
Just look at Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo, and all those companies. All of these have been held up by deliverymen who are paid in peanuts. Infosys, TCS, WIPRO, and other service providers pay Rs 25-30k salary to the freshers and expect them to work overtime, leaving them with no time for hobbies, relationships, and life in general.
So, all of these celebrities that Suniel Shetty mentioned in his post would be working some 9-5 job today if they did what Narayan Murthy had asked them to. They only were successful because they did the bare minimum in the job that they hated and focussed on what they liked, instead of overworking and running themselves to the ground. I say, let the new generation do that because it has clearly worked for the Kohli and the Tatas and the Bachchans.
