Capgemini India CEO bats for 47.5-hour work week, no weekend e-mails

Joining the debate on working hours, IT services company Capgemini India’s chief executive Ashwin Yardi on Tuesday advocated 47.5 hours work per week, and was against sending e-mails to employees on weekends. He was speaking at Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum (NTLF) here.

“Forty seven and half hours. We have about nine hours a day and five days a week,” Yardi said replying to a question on the ideal time to be put in by an employee per 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 added.

Acknowledging that sometimes he does work on weekends, Yardi said he desists from sending e-mails to employees, as there is no point just to give “grief” to an employee knowing well that the work cannot be done on a weekend.

It can be noted that IT industry leader and Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy has been pitching for a 70-hour work week, while EPC major Larsen and Toubro’s Chairman S N Subrahmanyan called for a 90-hour work week.

Speaking at the same event, nasscom’s chairperson Sindhu Gangadharan, who also leads German tech major SAP’s India operations, said outcomes should matter more than the work.

Fast moving consumer goods company Marico’s chief executive Saugata Gupta also spoke in favour of outcomes, and added that he does send e-mails at 11 pm as well.

Earlier, Yardi said that given the demographic profile of IT workers, it is very important for organisations to adapt to the expectations of the younger employees and listed out strategies they are adopting.

Capgemini also has quarterly promotion cycles, six-week employee surveys and charting out career paths for employees, he said.