Amid an ongoing debate over ideal working hours, Capgemini India’s chief executive Ashwin Yardi advocated a 47.5-hour workweek on Tuesday and emphasised the need to respect employees’ time off by avoiding weekend emails.
Speaking at the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum (NTLF), Yardi explained his approach to work hours, stating, “Forty-seven and a half hours. We have about nine hours a day and five days a week.”
On the issue of work-life balance, he made it clear that he refrains from sending emails on weekends unless the matter can be resolved immediately. “My guiding principle for the last four years is—don’t send an email on a weekend, even if it is an escalation, unless you know you can solve it on a weekend,” he said.
While acknowledging that he sometimes works on weekends, Yardi noted that there’s no value in burdening employees with emails that cannot be acted upon right away. “There is no point in just giving ‘grief’ to an employee knowing well that the work cannot be done on a weekend,” he added.
His remarks come at a time when industry veterans like Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy have called for a 70-hour workweek, and Larsen & Toubro Chairman S N Subrahmanyan has suggested a 90-hour workweek.
Speaking at the same event, Nasscom chairperson Sindhu Gangadharan, who also leads SAP India, stressed that outcomes should matter more than the number of hours worked. Marico CEO Saugata Gupta echoed this sentiment, though he admitted to sending emails as late as 11 p.m.
Yardi also highlighted the importance of adapting to younger employees’ expectations. To support career growth and engagement, Capgemini has implemented quarterly promotion cycles, six-week employee surveys, and structured career path planning.
(With PTI inputs)