Narayana Murthy – Infosys Co-founder
Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, 77, stands by his recent assertion that young professionals should work 70 hours a week to enhance India’s productivity and competitiveness.
Reflecting on his own experiences founding Infosys in 1981, Murthy revealed he worked from 6:20 am to 8:30 pm six days a week. He attributes his strong work ethic to his parents, who taught him that hard work was essential to escaping poverty, assuming maximum productivity.
Born into a modest family in Mysore, Murthy, the fifth of eight children, earned an electrical engineering degree from Mysore University and later studied computer science at IIT Kanpur.
Professional Life of Narayana Murthy
Throughout his 40-plus years of professional life, Murthy claims to have consistently worked 70 hours a week, and during the six-day workweeks until 1994, he put in 85 to 90 hours weekly. He emphasized that this dedication has not been in vain.
On a podcast with former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, Murthy expressed concern over India’s low work productivity compared to global standards.
India, with a per capita income of $2,300, remains a poor country, according to Murthy. He projected that achieving middle-income status (per capita income of $8,000-10,000) would take 16 to 18 years even with an 8% annual growth rate.
Stressing the need for commitment to break the poverty cycle, Murthy recalled his parents’ advice on good values, honesty, hard work, discipline, and a strong work ethic.
He believes prioritizing the community’s interest over personal gains in the short and medium term is crucial for personal betterment, echoing his conviction that prosperity is achieved through hard work in every prosperous nation’s history.
