[am1m]

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

Anger/Outrage is the fodder for social media.

Am in complete agreement with this. No question that this issue has benefited a lot of media channels and celebs. Including TeamBhp page views.

But the underlying issue(s) that this storm in a teacup has raised are relevant and worth discussing. I have already learned a lot by taking the useful bits from posts on both sides of the debate and ignoring the extreme sentences.

Speaking for myself, I realize a manager or company needs to take business decisions that might seem tough in the face of competition or for better performance. It happens all the time, including frequent layoff decisions. That is business.

What I find odd is treating employees like children and talking down to them. Unfortunately it happens too often with senior management in large corporations, giving general gyaan like uncles instead of treating employees like professionals and adults. Adults can make their own decisions. Even if it is detrimental to their careers and financial gain.

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by am1m

What I find odd is treating employees like children and talking down to them. Unfortunately it happens too often with senior management in large corporations, giving general gyaan like uncles instead of treating employees like professionals and adults.

Agreed. Especially NRN. I agree with the general import of his messages but not his condescending style of speaking.

[Red Liner]

POV at L&T office

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by am1m

What I find odd is treating employees like children and talking down to them.

This is an interesting point of view. May be it is an Indian senior citizen thingy or an universal mentor- mentee thingy. Now I realise why Gen-Z don't like me mentoring including my son. He interrupts me frequently now when I talk saying that he is a professor and he talks and I listen going forward!

Interestingly, When a Gen-Z is wearing mentoring shoes (all his students are minimum 5 years older than him in age), My son treats and tells me that his PhD students are his children and handle them with lot of care both at professional and personal level (The peer pressure and research itself is very stressful that suicides are common and hence they need to be monitored closely as per him). Once I landed in USA and he said he cannot pick me up at airport as he is busy and hosting a party for his children as they achieved something sensational etc. His children are a priority over his father.

[nuew]

Straight out of college, I worked for a Bangalore based company which used to make us work way beyond the "official" 6:30 PM. The deadlines were set so that we were tasked with twice or thrice the work the could be done within that timeframe. We used to start our shift at 9 AM and be at the office till 10 PM - 3 AM. We were working on weekends as well to meet the deadline. There was no overtime pay and according to the management, we were considered inefficient for spending so much time in the office despite the heavy workload. There was a big metal plaque stating the employee rights and labour laws at the reception which felt like openly mocking us. There were employees facing family problems and mental issues because of the work hours and stress. The company was so toxic that all competitors started to follow the same. As I didn't want to spend my life like that, I switched my career and went to the Middle East.

The country and company I worked for followed strick labour laws. The work hours was fixed at 8 hours and we would get overtime pay for extra hours, weekends and public holidays in case we needed to work extra. As company policy changed as they were not it favour of overtime, the manager's attitude was just finish what you can in 8 hours and leave the rest for the next day. If it's piling up, it's up to the higher management whether to pay overtime rates or hire more people. That was a stark difference in what I had experienced in India.

Now in Canada, the work culture here is again different from both my previous experiences. People, mostly Canadians, prioritise personal and family life over work. Work is just something to pay the bills. Canadians who work for hourly wages sometimes leave work early just to spend more time with the family. Many don't like to take up stressful jobs and make requests to move from managerial to associate positions. They don't mind the pay cut. Peace of mind is priceless.

Some, especially expats, work in multiple jobs. Bank employees can be seen working in short shifts or off days at Tim Hortons to earn a bit extra and some managerial staff at major companies can be seen making pizza or burgers at fast food chains during the evening. This is the first time I'm experiencing something called Dignity of Labour. Even the communication between CEO and someone like a housekeeping staff is with utmost respect to each other. One reason could be that even the CEO must have done a similar job at some point in his/her life at least as a part timer to pay for the college tuition and understands that everybody is here to make a living.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Mystic

Now I realise why Gen-Z don't like me mentoring including my son.

Mentoring is invaluable and if it really happened in an organized way at more companies, it would result in a much better workforce.

After 20 years in the workforce, I see that at least in Indian IT, what passes for 'mentoring' is top management rehashing their 'war stories' or bad jokes to a captive audience mustered by yes-men middle management. Or giving unsolicited advice (these days in the media) on what employees should do with their personal time, how much time they should spend on social media (ironically, through social media), etc etc. This is like the uncle at weddings who asks you when you are going to have kids.

Small wonder that there is this much schadenfreude when something like this happens!

Originally Posted by nuew

One reason could be that even the CEO must have done a similar job at some point in his/her life at least as a part timer to pay for the college tuition and understands that everybody is here to make a living.

The best manager I have every had was a Canadian who had worked several different jobs before he ended up in IT. He had been a taxi driver, a ski instructor, a teacher, and more. And there was no question about his IT credentials either, he was elected president of the local chapter of one of our industry/cross-company professional organizations.

[poloman]

Originally Posted by Mystic

This is an interesting point of view. May be it is an Indian senior citizen thingy or an universal mentor- mentee thingy. Now I realise why Gen-Z don't like me mentoring including my son. He interrupts me frequently now when I talk saying that he is a professor and he talks and I listen going forward!

Paid mentoring is a big thing now a days. Most so called influencers or top voices on linkedin will have link to their profiles on paid mentoring websites. Charges can be as high as 10000 per month or 25000 for 3 months. There are hundreds of paid mentoring websites. Any one working in FAANG companies for even 1 month can become a mentor now.

[am1m]

My office finally seems to have caught up with the '90-hour week' discussion today (TeamBhp is always ahead of the curve!). As a part of the general meme-sharing, my boss just made it clear how stupid such expectations were and how she has also walked out of working for such a manager in the past with no regrets.

There's another good reason for me to stay loyal to my company and manager!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by am1m

There's another good reason for me to stay loyal to my company and manager!

I guess that settles the question you posed here.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I guess that settles the question you posed here.

Sure does! (Also the good advice I got on that thread also helped.)

[mac187]

To,
L&T recruitment team

I writing this email imploring you to consider my candidature to your esteemed organization. I am neither a brilliant coders nor a great people manager. However, I have experience completing 70hrs of work for the week. By doing so I have realized my true purpose, which to ensure the leadership team gets their fat bonuses and ESOP's and shareholder's should get dividends and higher value for their shares.

With this singular objective in mind, I would like to join your esteemed organization.

Thanks,
Indian IT professional

P.S: There is a lady in my house screaming her lungs out and a child wanting me to join some silly board games. Please advise if I move into office as I want to avoid these distractions.

[ghodlur]

The 90 hr work time has generated its own share of laughs in my organization which is still coming to terms of 3 days coming to office rule. Even this rule is contested by many employees who feel WFH has given them lot more creativity, independence and boosted the productivity. Few employees suggested to the company that a circular needs to be released by HR that we are still in Covid stage, this way WFH can continue and productivity KPIs are intact. Few cited the savings in electricity, transportation costs, work life balance benefits. Its a laugh riot on the comments sections to the HR diktat of compulsory 3 days office attendance.

[RM Motorsports]

Amid the 'stare at wife' and ‘90-hour workweek’ controversy growing rapidly in India, Amul also joined the bandwagon with its uniquely hilarious doodle

[neeraj0272]

Originally Posted by neeraj0272

Firstly this whole 70 hr work week or 90 hr work week stems from the fact that our PM sleeps only 3 hrs a day and hence work in the remaining hours and hence is contributing to 'Nation-Building.' In this light all these industrialists and their apologists who are shooting their mouths off is their way to please current political bosses and also having additional benefit of becoming champions of 'Nation-Building'.

Murthy proves my point. Now Murthy should be ready for his just deserts.

[Kosfactor]

As a country we need more speed - so the bullet trains , expressways, 5G internet etc will certainly help us do more in less time.

Maybe PM is getting old and it's taking him more time to get through the day, a younger man would need perhaps only half the time.