CEO suffers backlash for saying 22-year-old employees should work 18 hours a day for at least 4-5 years

The founding CEO of Bombay Shaving Company recently posted online to say he believes new hires should work 18 hours a day for several years at least.

However, in this age of “quiet quitting” and work-life balance, the CEO very quickly got soundly roasted online, and it certainly was not a pretty sight. The backlash was so severe that he wrote his final LinkedIn post to express his farewell the very next day.

Mr Shantanu Deshpande wrote an Aug 29 LinkedIn post, encouraging 22-year-olds starting their first jobs to “throw yourself into it. Eat well and stay fit, but put in the 18 hour days for at least 4-5 years.”

And while he acknowledged the importance of “work life balance, spending time with family, rejuvenation bla blah” he said that this is not for young employees, urging them to “worship your work. Whatever it is.

The flex you build in the first 5 years of your career carries you for the rest of it.

Don’t do random rona-dhona (weep and wail). Take it on the chin and be relentless. You will be way better for it.”

Maybe a few years ago this type of advice would have been acceptable, but with the game-changer of the Covid-19 pandemic, mindsets have changed.

The backlash to Mr Shantanu was swift, and at times severe.

“Working for own business for 18 hours is a different story from working under a corporate company who doesn’t even value our basic rights,” wrote one commenter.

“Let someone decide for themselves how they wanna live, and let’s respect the fact that everyone has different priorities,” wrote another.

Others were blunter…

One underlined the importance of mental health, a hard-won lesson during the pandemic.

Some said that the CEO’s post promoted toxic work culture.

Some commenters roasted the CEO, calling him “Elon Musk lite.”

There were also a number of references to “slavery” in the comments.

The backlash he received may have been a little too much for the CEO, who posted that what he said would be his “last post on Linkedin” the next day.

/TISG