So, how many hours did you work last week? 70? 80? Or lost count?
Well, as we all rush forward with the mantra of Bharat indeed being a future superpower, an important issue is being debated. Can we achieve this dream without pushing our workforce to the brink?
Recent calls for extending working hours to 70 or even 90 hours a week have sparked a fiery debate. While the objective might be to ‘grow’ faster, the implications on health, productivity, and society – just can’t be overlooked.
Bharat is a country of youth, with more than 65 per cent of its population under the age of 35. The Economic Surveys have said that the demographic dividend would peak around 2041, when the working-age population will be 59 per cent of the total population. This demographic dividend is our biggest strength, yet it is also our most fragile asset. This makes the average Bharatiya professional, already work more than the rest of the world, at 48 hours per week. Additional hours to that load may be a shortcut toward economic progress; however, facts prove otherwise. Studies show that productivity per hour sharply declines after 50 hours of work per week. Beyond 70 hours, it plateaus and means pointless extra effort. In short, more hours does not mean more output – the only result is tiredness.
The health effect of overwork is also disturbing. The World Health Organization study result shows that having 55 or more hours per week was associated with a 35 per cent higher risk of a stroke and 17 per cent higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease than for those working 35-40 hours per week. Mental health issues, such as burnout, anxiety, and depression, are on the rise among Bharatiya professionals, who are mostly in their 20s and 30s. Further, young professionals working more than 50 hours a week face issues much beyond the workplace and health. Workdays exceeding 50 hours invade personal life as well. Long hours leave less time for bonding with family or society, which increases feelings of isolation and dissatisfaction. According to various studies, people who do not care about building personal ties are 30 per cent more likely to experience a decline in the quality of their relationships over time.
The pandemic highlighted just how easily the equilibrium between work and life can shift. When homes became offices, the lines between professional and personal time became blurry. In Bharat, 70 per cent of the employees reported working long hours while 54 per cent said that they were more stressed and felt that work and life were not in equilibria. It was the same the world over, with workers in the US and the UK working longer hours but undergoing a steep decrease in productivity. It was like a naked exposure of the costs of a work culture that demands constant availability and reminded everybody of the need for sustainability. We must learn from these experiences and build a system that doesn’t rely on overwork but encourages a balanced, healthy, and productive workforce – one that can fuel both personal well-being and national growth.
Productivity per hour sharply declines after 50 hours of work per week. Beyond 70 hours, it plateaus and means pointless extra effort. In short, more hours does not mean more output – the only result is tiredness
Critics of balanced work policies often point to countries like Japan or China, where longer hours are common. Bharat has the opportunity to carve a different path, leveraging its youthful population not by exhausting it, but by empowering it. The solutions are within reach, and we can learn from nations that have adopted progressive work policies. Denmark has an average workweek of 37 hours. However, that does not stop it from being one of the top performers in all those global productivity indexes and happiness reports. Germany has an average workweek of 34.3 hours and one of the highest GDPs worldwide. They prove that success is not in overwork but in a proper system and commitment to employees. Researchers in Iceland found that in their four-day workweek experiment among over 2,500 employees, productivity improved, and workers enjoyed their jobs more, but without a loss or even a gain in companies’ outputs. Some solutions include flexible work policies, reduced workweeks, and output-oriented tasks.
Businesses can empower workers to work smart not hard, by leveraging technology and employee training. Bharat, with its young and energetic workforce, can take similar measures by promoting fewer working hours, and skill-based results. The time has come to realise that work-life balance is not a luxury but a necessity. There is always a scientific proof of the fact that those employees who are maintaining a healthy balance between their professional and personal lives are healthier and more productive. Companies that promote this balance report having higher employee engagement and better results overall. Such an approach, therefore, helps Bharat achieve Viksit Bharat and Atmanirbhar Bharat, not through overwork but through innovation, resilience, and self-reliance for growth.
Having had experience in both corporate and academic settings, I have observed these dynamics first-hand among the employees. I believe the challenges of overworking are not industry-specific but universal—they undermine creativity, emotional well-being, and the relationships that give life meaning.
Bharat’s youth hold the key to its future. They are ambitious, driven, and ready to contribute to the nation’s progress. But they also value well-being, relationships, and purpose. For Bharat to truly shine on the global stage, it must respect this balance. Growth is not a sprint—it is a marathon. A nation that prioritises the health and happiness of its people is destined to win.
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