Matching pay must for 70-hr work bid: Experts

Bengaluru Seventy-hour work week should commensurate with matching compensation for workers for IT industry employees, which is a prevalent practice in manufacturing and retail sector staffers.

Experts opined that staffers at the bottom of the pyramid or freshers’ remuneration should be increased to keep them motivated for longer work hours.

“It is a prevalent practice in the manufacturing and retail sectors to pay their employees for overwork that is required over and above the mandated working hours. Such practice should be followed in the IT industry if 70-hours work week is adopted. This can be win-win for both employees and employers,” Pareekh Jain, an IT services consultant and Founder of Pareekh Consulting told Bizz Buzz. Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy in a recent comment had said that Indian youngsters should work for 70-hours per week. This has created an intense debate in the corporate world and beyond with division of views for and against such proposal. Those supporting the view are of the opinion that in a developing country like India, the critical factor behind accelerating growth lies in the work spirit of its youth population. It’s a known fact that 66 per cent of the country’s population is below the age of 35 and India should take advantage of such demographic dividend by following the development model of Japan and South Korea.

While people opposing such proposal have opined that 70-hour work week will turn IT firms into sweatshops if that doesn’t provide matching compensation.

Sources in the know said that many employees of IT firms work more than 70-hours per week depending on the IT project assigned to them.

“The fresher salary has been stagnant for the last decade with out any raise given by IT firms. On the other hand, salaries of CEOs and top management have risen to match global standards. In such a situation, advocating for 70-hour work week for young professionals doesn’t go well,” said an IT sector employee.

Reports suggested that while salaries of freshers had increased by only 50 per cent in the last 10 years, CEO salaries have increased by a whopping 1,500 per cent during this period.

The median salary gap has also increased rapidly in the last 10 years. For instance, the median salary gap of Infosys CEO’s pay in FY23 was 627 times higher than the median remuneration of its company’s employees. The median salary gap is even higher for Wipro as its CEO is one of the highest paid top executives among Indian IT firms.

“While 70-hour work week debate will go on, it is necessary to understand the context in which this suggestion has been given. However, the debate on work-life balance, and compensation also need urgent focus,” said a Chief Marketing Officer of a mid-tier IT firm.