Veeba’s Founder Viraj Bahl Calls The 70-hour Work Week A “Crazy” And “Obsolete” Idea

In 2023, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy advocated for the 70-hour work week and started a never-ending debate. 

As per Murthy, working 70 hours per week was necessary for nation building. While founders like Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal sided with him, many others opposed his views. 

Recently, Viraj Bahl, founder of the sauce and condiments company Veeba, said that the idea of asking employees to work 70 hours every week is “bats**t crazy.”

According to The Hindustan Times, he made this statement on a podcast called The Rockford Circle hosted by Chitrangada Singh.

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“OKAY FOR A FOUNDER TO WORK 70 HOURS”

Host Chitrangada Singh asked Viraj Bahl, “What do you think about the 70-hour work week?”

Dismissing the idea altogether, Bahl said, “I think the 70-hour work week is a bats**t crazy idea.”

Explaining his rationale, the entrepreneur stated that employees cannot be expected to work for 70 hours every week simply because they are not compensated for it. 

Viraj Bahl said, “You know, it is okay for a founder to work 70 hours because he is the biggest commercial gainer out of a 70 hour work week.”

“To expect your team to work 70 hours is crazy. Either compensate them in the same way you are getting compensated for working 70 hours, proportionately, or do not expect them to work 70 hours,” he added.

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“REDUCED WORKING HOURS” AT VEEBA

Speaking to Chitrangada Singh, Viraj Bahl also stated that Veeba had recently reduced the working hours of employees. 

Currently, they work for 8 hours a day. 

“In our organisation, we have reduced the working hours recently. We are doing 40 hour weeks now. And to expect someone to work 70 hours without having any equity upside is crazy,” he said. 

Emphasizing that the 70-hour work week expectation should not exist, Bahl added, “I think it’s an obsolete idea. Seventy hour weeks should not happen.”

The Veeba founder also discussed the country's productivity and said that it is one of the lowest in the world. According to him, tangible reforms are required to compete with countries that have made “tremendous” progress. 

In Viraj Bahl’s words, “India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world. Unless we improve our work productivity, unless we reduce corruption in the government at some level, because we have been reading I don't know the truth of it, unless we reduce the delays in our bureaucracy in taking this decision, we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress.”

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