‘Compensate proportionately or…’: Veeba founder Viraj Bahl slams 70-hour workweek as ‘Bats**t crazy idea’

Viraj Bahl, founder of Veeba, has slammed the rising push for excessive workweeks, labeling the thought of 70-hour work schedules as “bats**t crazy.” Whereas some trade leaders name for longer hours to spice up productiveness, Bahl strongly opposes the pattern, drawing a transparent line between what’s cheap for founders and their workers.

Talking on *The Rockford Circle* podcast with Chitrangada Singh, Bahl made his views clear when requested about workers working 70-hour weeks. “It’s okay for a founder to work 70 hours as a result of he’s the most important industrial gainer out of it,” he mentioned. “To count on your staff to do the identical? Crazy.”

Bahl, who launched Veeba in 2013, doubled down on his stance. “I feel the 70-hour work week is a bats**t crazy thought,” he mentioned. He careworn that if corporations insist on workers clocking such hours, they have to supply proportionate compensation. “Both compensate them in the identical method you’re getting compensated for working 70 hours, proportionately, or don’t count on them to work 70 hours,” Bhal, who can also be one of many judges in Shark Tank India Season 4, added.  

His remarks stand in distinction to the views of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, who in 2023 referred to as for workers to work 70-hour weeks to spice up India’s productiveness. Murthy’s assertion sparked heated debates on work tradition, with some company leaders backing his suggestion. Bahl, nonetheless, sees it as an outdated idea.  

“Anticipating somebody to work 70 hours with out an fairness upside is out of date,” he mentioned. Bahl famous that Veeba has lately lowered its workers’ working hours. “At our firm, we lately determined to shorten the work hours. We now function on a 40-hour workweek,” he defined.  

Bahl’s opposition to long-hour work tradition makes him one of many few outstanding enterprise leaders to publicly problem the rising pattern. Whereas the talk continues, Veeba’s shift to a 40-hour workweek displays Bahl’s agency perception that sustainable work situations profit each corporations and their groups.