Amid the nationwide debate on work-life balance after problematic remarks by some industry leaders, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute, has said it is not humanly possible to be productive beyond a certain number of hours and that people need to unwind and refresh.
In an exclusive interview with NDTV on the sidelines of Davos 2025, Mr Poonawalla was asked how many hours he puts in daily. He replied that he was working almost round the clock during Covid. “But, you know, it’s all about your entrepreneurial journey. You have to work hard to build what you want to build and what you want to be. But that’s not for everyone. And you can’t do that continuously. You have to have time to unwind, refresh, re-look at things,” he said.
Mr Poonawalla said that a company’s leader also needs to network with people for a variety of reasons, including raising funds. “You can’t do that if you’re just…”
Asked about the work hours for employees of Serum Institute, he replied, “We have eight-hour shifts. We have two-three shifts and the standard. So, you know, if you want to operate a company, let’s say, from a CEO’s point of view, you have different shifts. You employ more people. So, we start at 7.30 in the morning… And then at 4 o’clock, that shift ends and the next one takes over.”
Stressing that it is “not humanly possible” for people to be productive beyond a certain number of hours, the Serum Institute CEO said crisis situations were different. “In a crisis or in an opportunity, your adrenaline is pumping. During Covid, there were nights where I hardly got three or four hours of sleep because you were talking to so many people. But that’s not something that is sustainable.”
Work life balance has been a key talking point over the past few weeks after Larsen and Toubro chairman SN Subrahmanyan spoke about a 90-hour workweek. During an internal interaction, Mr Subrahmanyan was asked why L&T required its employees to work on Saturdays. He replied, “I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays, to be honest. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy, because I work on Sundays also.”
“What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands? Get to the office and start working,” he added.
The remarks sparked a row as a section of social media users said such a remark from an industry leader will lead to exploitation of employees. Many pointed out that expecting such work output from entry level employees with low wages was unfair, while others said the focus should be on quality, and not quantity, of work.
In fact, Mr Poonawalla had then said his wife loves staring at him on Sundays and added, “Quality of work over quantity always.”
Yes @anandmahindra, even my wife @NPoonawalla thinks i am wonderful, she loves staring at me on Sundays. Quality of work over quantity always. #worklifebalance pic.twitter.com/5Lr1IjOB6r
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 12, 2025
Earlier, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy had advocated a 70-hour workweek and India’s young workforce has to embrace hard work if they want the country to realise its full potential on the global stage. He has recently said this was a matter to introspect and that no one should impose such hours on another individual.
During his chat with NDTV, Mr Poonawalla said the industry leaders’ remarks on work hours were made in a lighter vein. “All they meant was there’s no substitute for hard work. And that is the right message,” he said, adding that there is a need to strike a balance in all aspects of life.
