CEO’s advice to grind oneself at work during formative years gets massive backlash. He suggested freshers should work 18 hours a day and this advice has not gone down well with several netizens.
CEO’s advice
Bombay Shaving Company CEO Shantanu Deshpande shared a post on LinkedIn where he suggested freshers work for 18 hours a day for at least the initial 4-5 years. Deshpande’s advice to freshers has not gone down too well with netizens. His advice to not give importance to work-life balance left the internet fuming.
“When you are 22 and new in your job, throw yourself into it. Eat well and stay fit, but put in 18-hour days for at least 4-5 years. I see a LOT of youngsters who watch random content all over and convince themselves that ‘work-life balance, spending time with family, rejuvenation blah blah is important. It is, but not that early. That early, 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. Take it on the chin and be relentless. You will be way better for it,” Deshpande wrote on LinkedIn.
Wow. Ugh. pic.twitter.com/qWrVMKWuCV
— Sukhada (@appadappajappa) August 30, 2022
The post triggered a series of reactions across social media platforms, with youngsters slamming the Bombay Shaving Company CEO for his comments.
Netizens aren’t happy
“I still remember the days when I used to start from home at 8 AM and regularly come around 10 PM in the night. Because I had no option but to worship work and build some stability in my life. I even used to come at 2 am in the next day also. All in all, that life was trash from both personal and professional fronts. I was exploited like anything. Please don’t go for such advice. Let the CEO and his children follow these principles. I am not saying just look for work-life balance but seek a healthy life balance. Else hospital would take care of you after that 5 years of work,” a LinkedIn user commented on his post.
“I did that sometimes stretching for 20 hrs too. The end result, verbal appreciation, and the best employee while losing out on opportunities outside of the industry. Today, many of my less working colleagues are enjoying a blissful life while I m still toiling hard,” another user wrote.
Why stop with 18? Why not work 24 or 48 hours straight and build even more "flex"? That way, you won't even have to take it just on your chin, but on your entire body and mind too. pic.twitter.com/s9ZXqEIhYb
— Karthik ?? (@beastoftraal) August 30, 2022
“Why stop at 18? Why not work 24 or 48 hours straight and build even more ‘flex’? That way, you won’t even have to take it just on your chin, but on your entire body and mind too,” the third one wrote.
After facing criticism for his post, Deshpande added a little clarification at the end. “Edit – Yikes. So much hate for 18-hour days. It’s a proxy for ‘giving your all and then some’. Edit 2 – for those wondering about the culture at bsc, feel free to come any time or talk to any of our people,” he said, referring to Bombay Shaving Company as “bsc”.
