Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Chairman SN Subrahmanyan, who took the internet up by storm by suggesting a 90-hour work week, has stoked another controversy after he said that government schemes are affecting labour mobilisation as workers are reluctant to relocate for jobs.
Central government welfare schemes like MNREGA, JAN DHAN accounts and direct benefit transfers are making workers unwilling to travel from their hometowns as they prefer the comfort of such measures, Subrahmanyan said at the CII’s Mystic South Global Linkages Summit 2025 in Chennai.
He said, “Labour is not willing to move for opportunities. Maybe their local economy is doing well, maybe it is due to the various government schemes,” adding that a shortage in labour will affect India’s infrastructure.
Addressing the issue of high attrition, he noted that while L&T needs 4 lakh workers, it hires 16 lakh to compensate for the high turnover. He also emphasized the need to adjust wages in line with inflation.
Last month, Subrahmanyan had sparked an online outrage with his comments advocating a 90-hour work week and suggesting that employees should even give up Sundays.
“How long can you stare at your wife,” he is heard saying in a purported video address to employees where he urged them to spend less time at home and more in the office.
His remarks reignited the work-life balance debate, first triggered by Infosys Co-Founder Narayana Murthy’s suggestion of a 70-hour work week.
“I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy because I work on Sundays,” Subrahmanyan is heard saying in an undated video circulating on social media.
“What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands? Come on, get to the office and start working,” he further said.
With inputs from PTI
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‘Unwilling workers’: L&T chief now blames MNREGA, Jan Dhan over labour shortage at new opportunities
