Capgemini CEO backs 47.5-hour workweek, promises no emails on weekends

Chief Executive of Capgemini India Ashwin Yardi dismisses 70-90 hour workweeks, advocating for a 47.5-hour workweek and discouraging weekend emails while emphasising work-life balance

Capgemini India CEO Ashwin Yardi has dismissed the idea of an extended 70-—to 90-hour workweek and advocated for a more balanced approach to working hours in India.  

 

Speaking at the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum (NTLF) in Mumbai, Yardi supported a 47.5-hour workweek, stating, “47 and a half hours. We have about nine hours a day and five days a week.”

 

“My guiding principle for the last four years is don’t send an e-mail on a weekend even if it is an escalation unless you know you can solve it on a weekend,” he said as quoted by news agency PTI.

 

While acknowledging that he sometimes works on weekends, Yardi said he refrains from emailing employees unnecessarily, as it would only cause ‘grief’ without yielding productive results.  

 

At the same event, Nasscom chairperson Sindhu Gangadharan, who also leads SAP India, emphasised that workplace productivity should be outcome-driven rather than dictated by hours clocked. Marico CEO Saugata Gupta shared a similar sentiment but admitted to occasionally sending emails late at night.  

 

Yardi’s remarks come amid an ongoing debate sparked by Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy’s call for a 70-hour workweek and L&T Chairman SN Subrahmanyan’s suggestion of a 90-hour work week. Subrahmanyan, in a recent interaction with employees, expressed regret over not being able to make them work on Sundays. “I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays,” he said.   

Further emphasising his stance, he remarked, “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?”