'Winning requires hard work': Indian-American CEO calls for longer work hours

Online furniture firm Wayfair's CEO Niraj Shah, in a recent address to employees of the company, advocated for longer working hours and added that there was no historical evidence which showed laziness led to success.

"Winning requires hard work," the Indian-American businessman said in a note to his employees, according to a CNN report.

"Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from. There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success," the message further read.

Shah shared the message earlier this month as the company celebrated its recent success.

He also asked employees to think of the company money they spend as their own and urged them to negotiate prices. "Would you spend money on that, would you spend that much money for that thing, does that price seem reasonable, and lastly — have you negotiated the price?" he asked the employees in his note.

Niraj Shah, however, is not the first person, who talked about longer working hours. In fact over the last few months, the debate around hustle culture has taken centrestage after Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy advocated for a 70-hour work week.

"...my request is that our youngsters must say, ‘This is my country. I’d like to work 70 hours a week'," Murthy said while speaking to former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai for a podcast, The Record. He added that this is exactly what the Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War. "They made sure that every German worked extra hours for a certain number of years."

Murthy's comments had sparked a row, after which many top leaders in the country shared their take. While some stood by Murthy's side, others said work-life balance is of utmost importance for employees.

Also Read: Golden skirts and lone woman directors: Why a majority of Indian firms have exactly one woman director on their board