90-hour workweek row: ITC Chairman Sanjiv Puri says ‘would not do it’, bats for flexibility, employee empowerment | Company Business News

Amid the 90-hour workweek controversy, ITC Ltd Chairman Sanjiv Puri, on January 14, said that it is more important for workers to align with the grander vision of the company rather than focus on the number of hours they work, reported news agency PTI.

Sanjiv Puri added that his firm provides a flexible work environment, including two work-from-home days each week.

On being asked if he would rather not put a number to the work hours at ITC, he said, “We would not do that”.

“We would rather like people to be part of the journey (of the company) and feel passionately involved and kind of feel the urge amongst themselves to make a difference to the enterprise. That’s how we look at it,” PTI quoted Sanjiv Puri as saying.

He also used the analogy of many workers building a castle. Puri said, “If you ask a mason what he is doing, he might say he is laying a brick, another might say he is building a wall, but some might say he is building a castle. It is that vision that workers should have.”

“What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife, and how long can the wife stare at the husband.”

Puri said that ITC provides a lot of flexibility in working. “Also, two days a week, you can work from home,” he said.

“So it’s not so much about, you know, really monitoring each individual’s number of hours. It’s more about enabling individuals, helping them to actualise their potential, and then reviewing what goals people have achieved.”

What SN Subrahmanyan had said?

Earlier, Chairman and Managing Director of Larsen & Toubro Ltd, SN Subrahmanyan, sparked a debate on social media after commenting that employees should work 90 hours a week including on Sundays rather than sit at home.

“I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays,” Subrahmanyan said in an undated video of his discussion with staff.