The Right to Disconnect

Okay, folks! 

Narayana Murthy wants you to work 70 hours a week.  

Kangana Ranaut is proud to be a citizen of the country whose PM sleeps less than four hours in a day.  

Nilesh Shah from Kotak wants to draw up an 84 hour weekly timetable to skyrocket India into the middle and upper class.  

Ladies and gentlemen, we have here the harbingers of a successful India. The men and women who sit comfortably in plush chairs, counting their cigar time as "networking", dying to usher India into a glorious phase of development.  

The glorification of working hard and working too much is not new. The bi-product of working hard is toxic work culture. The death of a young, promising girl, Anna Sebastian Periyal, has sparked a new debate on this "toxic work culture". She suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away in July. No one from her workplace (EY Pune) came to attend the funeral.  

                    (Picture Credit: LinkedIn) 

This issue has caught people's eye only after a letter from Anna's mother went viral on social media. She wrote to the EY India Head, stating that her bright, intelligent daughter was reeling under immense work pressure from a few months. Anna's friends and relatives also revealed that her health was deteriorating owing to long working hours and no rest. This has turned into a full blown row online. Frankly speaking, this outrage is long overdue.  

Young Indians are known to toil hard. It has become a common perception that a few years of initial grinding will land you a better position. And, so they grind. They work their fingers to the bones and are made to forego their personal commitments and sacrifice their physical and mental well-being. Their emotional health is severely stunted and their personal relationships are compromised. Corporate work culture in India has become a Bangladeshi sweat shop, albeit with air conditioning. Despite this, there are business tycoons, young entrepreneurs and politicians who think that extending work hours will bolster growth and productivity.  

According to 2023 data of the International Labour Organization (ILO), on average Indians put in 47.7 hours every week, which is the highest out of the 10 biggest economies. But India's productivity is just $8.47. This figure stands in sharp contrast to the United States where it is over $70 and weekly working hours are fewer (on average 34.4). So, it's pretty evident that there is little correlation between working hours and productivity.  

Even, the Parkinson's law is fairly clear on this matter – work expands to fill time. So people who want to be productive will find a way to complete a certain task within the stipulated time. Bullying employees into working overtime will not guarantee growth. A passionate professional will find a way to engage with like-minded people and work for the organization without sacrificing personal satisfaction. But, Narayana Murthy will have you believe that only by overworking yourself can you contribute to the nation and to society. Such blanket statements by business tycoons and politicians reek of ignorance and do a great disservice to the two-third of India's population, which is under 35 years of age.  

People who glorify overworking forget that the privilege accorded to white collar jobs is way more than blue collar jobs. The former have access to a variety of perks, including chauffeur driven cars, business lunches, business class flights, among others. They can work for those extra hours because their physical and psychological well-being is ensured, which is not the case for the less fortunate, blue-collar job goers. Putting them both in the same basket and glorifying work hours and tolerating uncouth bosses is reminiscent of a carrot and stick approach – not how a growing economy should treat those whose shoulders they step on.  

Multinational corporations today are known to provide training sessions for their employees. There is also organization of fun-Fridays, annual conventions bringing comedy shows and what not. They are all feeble attempts to create a "feel-good" environment for their employees and seem even more insincere when you realize that it's an eyewash for the retention young blood to keep the machine running.  

What young Indians need today is the Right to Disconnect. It is a basic, fundamental human right of people to not engage in work-related activities after working hours. Many countries including France, Australia, Spain and Italy have passed this law. This is a major step which must be taken by the Government because outrage alone will not make a powerful impact.  

The sheer of lack of empathy for Anna is heartbreaking. It's easy for us to empathize now but we refrain from helping people like her when they need it the most. We are good at making hue and cry and loud posters when tragedy strikes but we didn't do anything when a life could have been saved.  

A mother has lost her child. Nothing will ever be the same for her. We cannot bring Anna back. We can ensure that this incident does not repeat itself.