Meta’s Sandhya Devanathan on 70-hour work week: Organisations must measure impact of work accomplished

Recently, the co-founder of Infosys, NR Narayan Murthy made a statement that divided the nation. According to him, youngsters must commit to working 70 hours a week.

However, Sandhya Devanathan, vice president and managing director has a different opinion. She believes that rather than focusing on the number of hours put in, companies must measure the impact of the work accomplished.

In a conversation at CNBC-TV18’s India Business Leader Awards (IBLA), Devanathan said that participation of the women force was paramount if India aspired to become a $5 trillion economy.

“I am not saying 70 hours is good or bad, but the system has to work for everyone including people taking care of young families, both men and women and not just looking at it from a work lens,” she added.

Her statement comes out at a time when Cred’s Kunal Shah, Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal, JSW’s Sajjan Jindal and former board member of Infosys Mohandas Pai came out in support of the statement made by Murthy.

Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty also supports Murthy's point of view. In a LinkedIn post he wrote, “Why I see Mr Murthy’s statement for what it was really trying to convey, is because I do believe that young adults should spend their earliest years pushing their boundaries. Honing skills, acquiring new ones, dealing with pressure, learning about other functions, working in collaborative environments & generally making the most of the opportunities, should be top priority for all young adults.”