Eversince Infosys founder N. R. Narayana Murthy spoke about the need for Indians to work 70 hours a week, the country has been divided. Some say his message encourages progress. Some feel it demands too much.

But if we remove the emotion, one fact stands clear:

India has a productivity challenge, not just a work-hours challenge. This debate is not about Murthy or China’s famous 9-9-6 rule (9 a.m. to 9 p.m., 6 days a week). It is about something deeper — how much real work gets done in a workday, and how that shapes salaries, growth, and the nation’s economic future. Because whether someone works 40 hours or 70, the real question is: How many of those hours genuinely create value?

The productivity reality no one likes to talk about

Globally, companies are struggling to measure actual productive time.

Research shows a surprising truth:

• A study by Vouchercloud (UK) found that employees are productive for only 2 hours 53 minutes per day out of 8 hours.

• According to Apollo Technical, more than 60% of employees say they are productive for less than half the workday.

• A report by Dropbox & Economist Impact estimates that employees lose 683 hours every year due to workplace distractions — almost 17 workweeks gone.

• TeamStage found that workers lose about 720 hours per year on shallow, low-value tasks.

These numbers are global, not Indian. But the impact is universal: time is logged, but value isn’t. So when Narayana Murthy talks about long working hours, the underlying message is not about pushing people harder —

it is about doing more meaningful work, because output drives income, both for individuals and for nations.

Why companies struggle to measure real productivity

Even the world’s largest companies admit they do not know how many hours of actual productive work happen every day.

1. Monitoring tools measure activity, not value

Tools like ProHance, Workday, or time trackers show mouse movement, applications used, and login hours — but they cannot measure creativity, problem-solving, or decision-making.

2. Self-reporting is subjective

Employees know their real productive hours, but manual reporting at scale is unrealistic, especially across teams of thousands.

3. Trust becomes a barrier

If companies ask for detailed reports, employees feel micromanaged.

If companies use monitoring tools, employees feel policed.

This creates a situation where time is visible, but value is invisible.

The economic cost of invisible productivity

Let’s look at the numbers. If a company has 10,000 employees and each loses just 1 hour per day, that’s:

• 10,000 hours lost every day

• 50,000 hours lost every week

• 26 lakh hours lost every year

This is equivalent to 1,250 full-time employees sitting idle for an entire year. Now imagine this across India’s IT industry, with 5 million workers.

The loss is massive — not just for companies, but for employees, salaries, bonuses, and national wealth. No wonder clients push for lower billing rates. No wonder companies struggle with margins. No wonder employees feel pressure and burnout. And ironically, the burnout often comes not from too much productive work, but from too many interruptions, too much rework, and too many low-value tasks.

The heart of the debate: Productivity vs. hours

Narayana Murthy’s comment was uncomfortable for some, but it highlighted a deeper truth: India needs higher productivity to grow faster. China used the 9-9-6 model during its economic rise.

Japan focused on discipline and precision. South Korea invested in skill-building and output-based culture. India, with its talent and youth strength, has a different opportunity: Increase real productivity — not by increasing hours, but by increasing focus, value, and efficiency.

This is where the national wealth equation changes:

• Higher productivity → more output

• More output → higher revenue for companies

• Higher revenue → higher salary potential

• Higher salaries → stronger households and economy

Today, India is the world’s 5th largest economy. With real productivity improvement, we can move to the Top 3 faster.

Employees are the key — not tools

One truth stands out: Companies cannot fix productivity on their own.

Only employees know their real productive hours, their distractions, and their output quality. Productivity does not improve through tools, monitoring, or pressure. It improves when employees themselves feel the internal drive to grow.

Self-realisation is more powerful than supervision. This is what Murthy meant — not 70 hours of activity, but 70 hours of dedication, if the nation demands it.

A national moment of reflection

Instead of debating work hours, this moment should make all of us — leaders, employees, policymakers — ask one question:

How do we make every hour more meaningful? Because the world is moving fast. Clients are cutting budgets. AI is replacing repetitive tasks. Burnout is increasing. The gap between time spent and value created is widening.

The road ahead

The debate sparked by Narayana Murthy is not about hours. It is about India’s ambition. It is about output, competitiveness, and national growth. It is about making every employee feel empowered to contribute more — with pride, not pressure. Because productivity is not a number.

It is a mindset. And for a nation that dreams big, mindset is everything.

(The writer is a Director in Product Development, Technology Solutions Division of the Audit function for one of the Big 4 firms in Hyderabad. The views expressed do not represent the views of the employer organisation of the author)