A top neurologist criticized Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal’s declaration for the 70-hour workweek, Highlighting many health risks related to working long hours.
A top neurologist criticized Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal’s declaration for the 70-hour workweek, Highlighting many health risks related to working long hours. Dr Sudhir Kumar(neurologist) said that working for long hours can be a cause of depression symptoms, stroke, risk of being overweight and prediabetic and even premature death.
Bhavish Aggarwal Replied
Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal supported Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s 70-hour workweek suggestion in a recent podcast. He said he doesn’t follow the concept of work-life balance.
“When Mr Murthy said that (70-hour work week), I was publicly in support of that and I got trolled on social media for that. But, I don’t care because I have a strong belief that one generation will have to do tapasya… so that we can build the number 1 country in the world, the largest economy,” said Bhavish Aggarwal.
He also said, “I don’t agree with the work-life balance concept because if you are enjoying your work, you will find happiness in life also and work also, and both of them will be in harmony,”.
An expert says
Dr Sudhir Kumar (the senior neurologist)reacted to the CEO’s advice, stating that working for long hours would only benefit the company and the CEO.
Dr Kumar summarised various scientific studies into four points that state many health issues can be caused by working more than 55 hours.
In his recent post shared on the social media platform X(formerly known as Twitter) and noted that an employee should choose a company where the health of their employees matters to them.
He also said that “more than 800,000 people die every year due to working for more than 55 hours a week.”
Long working hours are related to several health issues such as prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, being overweight, a higher risk of stroke moderate to severe depressive symptoms, ischemic heart disease, and even premature death.
Dr Sudhir Kumar wrote,
“So, it is clear that working long hours is associated with increased risk of multiple serious diseases and even premature death,”.
He also added, “CEOs are inclined to recommend long working hours for their employees to improve their company’s profits and their net worth. If employees fall sick, they can be ‘easily substituted’,”.
The Doctor concluded his post by saying that an employee should choose a company where the well-being of the employees matters the most.