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Larsen & Toubro (L&T) chairman SN Subrahmanyan has reignited the discussion on long working hours by suggesting that employees should work up to 90 hours a week, which includes Sundays, to stay competitive. In previous months, numerous Indian business leaders, including Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy and Shaadi.com CEO and Shark Tank India judge Anupam Mittal, have also expressed some similar views.
While India continues to debate the feasibility of such extended work hours, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) opened up that India is already a front-runner in the global overwork race. India comes 13th among the world’s most overworked nations, according to the ILO. The organization also reported that, on an average, Indian workers clock 46.7 hours per week, with 51% of India’s workforce working 49 or more hours weekly, placing India 2nd among countries with the top rates of extended work hours. Despite having a little population, Bhutan tops the list with the longest work hours globally. Workers in Bhutan put in approximately 54.4 hours of efforts per week.
After Bhutan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks second, with employees working on an average of 50.9 hours per week to fuel their economy. Lesotho follows almost closely in 3rd place, where employees work 50.4 hours weekly. The Congo ranks fourth, with their workers averaging 48.6 hours each week. Qatar occupies the 5th spot, where employees work an average of 48 hours per week. In 6th place is Liberia, where workers put in 47.7 hours a week to support their country's economy.
Mauritania is 7th, with employees working 47.6 hours per week. After that, Lebanon ranks eighth, with an average workweek of 47.6 hours. Employees in Mongolia work an average of 47.3 hours every week, according to the ILO. Jordan is in the tenth place, with workers putting in 47 hours on average each week.
Meanwhile the ILO reports that Vanuatu has emerged as the country with the shortest average working hours per employed individual. Workers in Vanuatu spend only 24.7 hours per week on average, the lowest among all the countries which were surveyed. Other countries like Kiribati (27.3 hours) and Micronesia (30.4 hours) also enjoy relatively low overtime.