Davos:
Amid the nationwide debate on work-life balance, following problematic comments from some industry leaders, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of vaccine maker Serum Institute, has said that it is not humanly possible to be productive for more than a certain number of hours. and that people need to relax and renew themselves.
In an exclusive interview with DailyExpertNews on the sidelines of Davos 2025, Mr Poonawalla was asked how many hours he spends every day. He replied that he was working almost around the clock during Covid. “But you know, it's all about your entrepreneurial journey. You have to work hard to build what you want to build and what you want to be. But that's not for everyone. And you can't do that all the time. You have to have time to relax, refresh and look at things anew,” he said.
Mr Poonawalla said the leader of a company also needs to network with people for various reasons, including fundraising. “You can't do that if you just…”
When asked about the working hours for Serum Institute employees, he replied: “We have eight-hour shifts. We have two- to three-hour shifts and the norm. So you know, if you want to run a business, let's say from a From the CEO's point of view, you have different shifts. You employ more people. So we start at 7:30 in the morning… And at 4 o'clock that shift ends and the next one takes over.”
The CEO of the Serum Institute emphasized that it is “humanly not possible” for people to be productive for more than a certain number of hours and said crisis situations were different. “In a crisis or an opportunity, your adrenaline pumps. During Covid, there were nights when I barely got three or four hours of sleep because you were talking to so many people. But that is not something that is sustainable.”
Work-life balance has been a major talking point in recent weeks after Larsen and Toubro chairman SN Subrahmanyan discussed a 90-hour work week. During an internal discussion, Mr Subrahmanyan was asked why L&T required its employees to work on Saturdays. He replied, “I'm honestly sorry I can't make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I'll be happier because I work on Sundays too.'
“What do you do when you sit at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands? Go to the office and get to work,” he added.
The comments sparked a row as a section of social media users said such a comment from an industry leader will lead to exploitation of workers. Many pointed out that it was unfair to expect such work results from low-wage entry-level workers, while others said the focus should be on the quality, not the quantity, of work.
Mr. Poonawalla had even said then that his wife loves to stare at him on Sundays and added, “Quality of work always comes before quantity.”
Yes @anandmahindraeven my wife @NPoonawalla thinks I'm great, she likes to stare at me on Sundays. Quality of work always comes before quantity. #worklifebalance pic.twitter.com/5Lr1IjOB6r
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 12, 2025
Earlier, Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, had advocated a 70-hour work week and India's young workforce must embrace hard work if they want the country to realize its full potential on the global stage. He recently said that this is a matter of introspection and that no one should impose such hours on another individual.
Speaking to DailyExpertNews, Mr Poonawalla said the industry leaders' comments on working hours were made in a lighter tone. “All they meant was that there is no substitute for hard work. And that is the right message,” he said, adding that there is a need for balance in all aspects of life.