This year debates around the validity of “work-life” balance took a prominent stage in discussions about India's corporate sector and young professionals' working lives.

These discussions were kicked off by Narayana Murthy, Co-founder of the Indian software services giant Infosys, who opined in January that young Indians must work 70 hours a week for “India to grow.”

Murthy’s comments were met with sharp criticism, with many arguing that forcing employees to work such long hours is toxic and would force them to prioritise their work over their mental well-being.

Several founders and executives from India Inc. echoed similar sentiments, such as Ola Cabs’ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bhavish Agarwal suggesting that the concept of weekends be abolished as they are a “Western import”.

In the meanwhile, advocacy for a healthy work-life balance and employee welfare also grew, particularly after the death of Anna Sebastian Perayil, a chartered accountant at Ernst & Young (EY), who lost her life due to “exhaustion” from working long hours in July.

While Murthy stuck to his comments and even doubled down on them by claiming that he “did not believe in work-life balance”, conversations around the mental well-being of working professionals only grew — with the theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day (October 10) being “It is Time to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace.”

Thus, when a thread by Bengaluru-based software engineer Varun Hasija on X, detailing how he left his Rs 1 crore job without a backup plan to prioritise his mental health went viral, these discussions were reignited.

With some executives and corporate leaders downplaying the concept of work-life balance for enhanced productivity on one hand, and many employees rejecting “hustle culture” for their mental health on the other, the question remains — where do young professionals lie in this spectrum?

Corporate leaders’ role in productivity?

According to G Venkata Rahul, a Chennai-based Business Analyst at a digital bank, Murthy’s arguments are not without merit.

“We have a large young population but are miles behind other countries in terms of development. Narayana Murthy is right when he says that our youth must work hard for India to grow,” he says.

He takes the example of China, whose economic growth, particularly in the manufacturing sector, is often used as a metric to compare India’s growth journey with.

“India is talking about introducing bullet trains now, but they have been introduced, optimised and are now operational in China decades ago,” he says.

However, he adds that Indians working long hours of labour isn’t enough — the work needs to be productive, and that depends on a lot of other factors.

“Infosys offers freshers the same salary package it did 10 years ago, without taking into consideration factors like inflation. This package might be enough for candidates from tier 2 or tier 3 cities. However, for those from more urbane areas, who spent lakhs for their education, a 3 lakhs package would not cut it, and will not motivate them to be more productive,” he explains.

Apart from better pay, opportunities like upskilling and incentives like shares in the company equity also help boost productivity, he says.

Indian working culture deeply flawed

However, no amount of incentives boost employee productivity more than ensuring that they are devoid of stress and anxiety, more than a healthy working environment, professionals say.

“Founders and CEOs must realise that while they might be passionate about their companies and their growth, their employees may not share the same enthusiasm. A lot of startup founders falsely equate employees working long hours and putting up with toxicity as a sign of their loyalty and passion towards their companies,” Rahul says.

According to International Labour Organisation’s statistics, Indian employees work 46.7 hours a week on average, and 51 per cent of Indians work more than 49 hours a week.

A lot of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and startups in India have been accused by their employees of several toxic practices over the past two years, such as late-night and sudden meetings, micromanagement, and even verbal abuse by managers and even founders. Some of these companies include the aforementioned EY and Ola.

Zepto, the Indian e-commerce startup, is the latest company to be accused of having a toxic work culture, with 14-hour work shifts and 2 AM meetings. In a Reddit post on the subreddit r/StartUpIndia, an employee made several revelations about the working environment at the company and claimed that employees had to take pills to be able to work long hours.

In addition, the socioeconomic and market conditions in India also play a huge role in worsening the work culture in Indian companies.

“Most young professionals in India are engaged in outsourcing jobs for foreign companies, as India is seen as a source of cheap labour for these services. These jobs involve grunt work for little pay,” says Sailesh Meegada, a former employee of a Big 4 firm from Hyderabad.

He adds that young professionals are stuck in dead-end jobs that involve drudgery and low financial prospects as a result.

However, a lack of job security forces graduates and professionals into a rat race for these positions.

“Because these positions saturate the job market, colleges also produce millions of graduates with the same profile to be able to land them, leading to immense competition. Candidates are forced to work harder not only to land these jobs but also retain them in fear of layoffs,” he explains.

As per Inc42’s Indian start-up layoff tracker, at least 130 start-ups in India have laid off 37,264 employees since late 2022.

This precarity leads to a sense of “pseudo-necessity” to put in longer hours of work and give in to the so-called hustle culture, Sailesh says.

“Professionals are left with a sense of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), and they constantly worry about whether they are working enough. Obviously, a lot of them would end up burnt out, after investing so much time in work that does not satisfy them in any way,” he adds.

In his 2018 book Bullsh*t Jobs: A Theory, American anthropologist David Graeber argued that a majority of jobs in the current labour market are inherently meaningless, and such work, coupled with a work ethic that forces employees to equate their self-worth with their work is harmful to society.

“We have become a civilization based on work — not even “productive work” but work as an end and meaning in itself,” Graeber wrote.

A mindset change needed?

Speaking more on the impact of such work on young professionals’ mental and even physical health, Shree Shetty, a Hyderabad-based marketing professional and freelance mental health practitioner says, “For several working professionals, especially those from Gen Z (1998-2012), working long hours has become a part of their lifestyle. They have internalised the concept of hustling and the need to work longer and harder than necessary.”

She adds that Gen Z has grown up at a time when India’s start-up ecosystem started to boom, and the concept of hustling for success was seen as aspirational.

“Several of these founders and self-help gurus advised youngsters to hustle 24/7, have multiple sources of income and work hard to lead a good life. These left an indelible mark on our impressional minds,” she explained.

Youngsters were so enamoured by this messaging, that they even began to monetise their hobbies, Shree adds.

“Because of this, we are now overworking and don’t have time for anything else, which is eating away at our physical and mental health. The worst part is that we don’t realise it until it is too late,” she laments.

A 2020 study published in the PLOS journal about the health impact of atypical working hours on employees found that those working beyond the regular 9-5 time frame were more likely to experience depressive symptoms at the age of 50, and tended to have disturbed sleep.

“You see people in their late 20s and early 30s having heart attacks and hypertension. You see young women having hormonal imbalances. This is because of the stress they have to undergo at the workplace,” says Shree.

For this reason, she adds, people are tired of working and want to retire by the time they are 40.

According to her, the solution to remedy this is for working professionals to take it easy, and take a step back from work to preserve their mental health, if necessary.

“The techie from Bengaluru earned Rs 1 crore a year; he could probably afford to take a break. Everyone who can afford it must take breaks to focus on themselves. Even if quitting is impossible, or therapy is expensive, they must spend at least an hour a day doing whatever brings them peace,” she states.

The responsibility for employee satisfaction also lies in the hands of companies, argues Rahul.

“Employees need to be paid well, provided opportunities to grow, and given at least two days off in a week for them to feel happy at their workplaces. This will also boost their productivity, and make them feel motivated to work,” he says.