Amidst all the speculation surrounding Shark Tank India season 4, Anupam Mittal has a special message for his fans for the New Year.
The show's judge and Shaadi.com founder recently wished his fans a Happy New Year and shared a message for those 'worried' about the 70-hour work week.
In a post on X (pre-Twitter), Mittal asked everyone worried about the 70-hour work week to 'relax'. “All those worried about 70-hour work weeks, relax! We will have time to cool off in the happy new year of 2025 as AI takes over our jobs,” he wrote.
Responding to Mittal's post, a user wrote, “AI 2025: You did the 70-hour work week, we'll do the 70-minute work week.” Another commented, “That's not really uplifting!”
The 70-hour work week was proposed by Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and has been at the center of debate. Murthy defended his stance by saying, “We have to work hard and make India number one.” He also cited the example of Chinese workers who are 3.5 times more productive than Indians, saying, “If we make excuses, we will remain miserable, dirty and poor.”
Murthy's 70-hour work week proposal has received mixed reactions.
Recently, Gautam Adani said that one feels balanced when doing things one likes, and life becomes simpler when one accepts that they will die.
“Your work-life balance shouldn't be on me, and my work-life balance shouldn't be on you. Say someone spends four hours with family and enjoys it, or another spends eight hours and enjoys it, that is their balance. However, if you spend eight hours, bivi bhaag jayegi (the wife runs away),” the industrialist jokingly observed.
Mittal had long dismissed the craze as “a big lie told to this generation”. Reflecting on his early days working 16-hour shifts in the United States, Mittal argued that success stems from effort and strategy, not from putting in the time. For Mittal, young professionals need to push themselves in the early years of their careers to build character and achieve extraordinary results.
Mittal's co-host Namita Thapar, a judge on Shark Tank India, explained that the reality of startups and employees is fundamentally different. “Startups like me have significant financial stakes and can work around the clock, but employees can't,” she said. Requiring employees to work non-stop hours can lead to severe physical and mental health consequences, she said.
Murthy's push to increase working hours has sparked debate since he first proposed the idea in October last year. While some supported the move, arguing that it could increase productivity, many criticized it, saying that longer hours did not necessarily translate into higher output.
Meanwhile, the trailer of Shark Tank India season 4 was unveiled last month. The upcoming season of the show will see some regular as well as new faces on the judges panel. Kunal Bahl (Co-Founder, Snapdeal and Titan Capital), and Viraj Bahl (Founder and Managing Director, Veeba) will be the new judges of the latest season of the hit show.