'If I give you 90 hrs, are you giving me 90-hr pay?': INSEAD graduate's 5 questions amid L&T workweek row

An INSEAD graduate fired five hard-hitting questions at corporate India, questioning the 90-hour workweek narrative pushed by L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan.

Akshat Kharbanda’s pointed questions on LinkedIn have resonated widely, casting doubt on the logic and fairness of such expectations. 

“If I give you 90 hours, are you giving me 90-hour pay? Promotions? Equity? Or just lip service on ‘patriotism’?” he asked, adding, “Let’s value results over hours and people over optics.”

The controversy began with Subrahmanyan defending mandatory Saturday workdays, quipping, “What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife?”. He drew comparisons to China’s alleged 90-hour work ethic, claiming it was key to economic dominance. 

However, his comments failed to address whether such demands would include overtime pay or job security, a glaring omission highlighted by Kharbanda and others.

Kharbanda’s critique went beyond rhetorical questions. “How much of this work is truly value-adding, and how much is just performative busyness?” he asked, questioning the efficiency of overwork culture. 

He further challenged the outdated comparisons to countries like China and Singapore, asking whether they still apply in a modern Indian context.

IIT Mandi professor Nirmalya Kajuri added another layer to the debate, pointing out that many countries compensate professionals for overtime while Indian companies routinely demand 50-60 hours without pay. 

“If India strictly implements overtime pay for 40+ hours of work, corporate bosses would suddenly champion work-life balance,” he observed. His posts, viewed nearly 400,000 times, drew attention to the lack of enforcement of overtime laws in India.

“Hard work matters when it’s for your growth, your goals, and meaningful outcomes. But working just to meet irrational expectations? Neither efficient nor sustainable,” Kharbanda wrote.