‘Indians will work on weekends’ is a bad pitch

He was pitching India at an investment conference in the Netherlands. It was explaining the advantages of robots. The third is from Sketches of Slave Life, published in 1855 by Peter Randolph, a formerly enslaved African American man who later became a Baptist minister and abolitionist. Well, an investment pitch, a children's book and a slave's memoir appearing together isn’t something you will see every day.

Yet here we are. I made a small change to these quotes. I removed the words "Indians" from Goyal's statement, "robots" from the second, and "slave" from the third. Adding these words tells us who we are talking about. Without them, it’s clear what everyone expects from an ideal worker. The battle over time These statements span three different centuries. Societies have changed. Politics has changed.

Technology has changed. But the definition of a dream employee, apparently, hasn’t. They don’t complain, don’t take vacations, don’t retaliate, and are always available. But workers have a habit of ruining this fantasy every few decades. The eight-hour workday, the five-day week, and paid leave didn't emerge because employers suddenly became generous. Workers fought for every one of them. Technology was supposed to make that fight easier.

In 1930, economist J.M. Keynes imagined that technological progress could bring the working week down to just 15 hours by 2030. We are close enough to that deadline but nowhere near the target. And that brings us to Mr Goyal's remarks. The minister's broader argument about India’s potential and economic growth was sound. But the comments about longer working hours ended up overshadowing what Indian workers, managers and professionals have achieved so far.

We have a much better story to sell. From call centres to global capability centres India's services export story began with call centres. Global companies came looking for lower costs and found a large pool of English-speaking graduates. The work wasn't glamorous. Employees were trained to adopt American accents and cultural references. Some were even mocked for being Indian. But the economics were impossible to ignore.

Then came the back office. Accounting, payroll, claims processing and financial operations followed. It was the donkey work of global business. But Indians kept moving up the value chain. They went from processing transactions to analysing data, building software and managing complex operations. That shift even got a new name. What were once back offices are now Global Capability Centres (GCCs). India now hosts more than 2,100 GCCs employing around 2.36 million people and generating nearly $100 billion in annual revenue, according to the NASSCOM–Zinnov GCC Landscape 2026 report.

Their work spans technology, finance, engineering, analytics, research and product development. Foreign companies now see India as more than just a low-cost destination. The opportunity is not confined to software engineers and finance professionals. Countries facing ageing populations and labour shortages have turned to India to fill that gap. In recent years, India has signed labour mobility agreements with several countries.

Many faces behind long hours Now, let’s come back to working hours. Yes, Indians work long hours. According to Penn World Table data, India ranked 11th among 129 countries in 2023. But long hours can mean many things – from dedication to poor management. Consider wages. International Labour Organisation (ILO) data ranks India 55th among 75 countries for average monthly employee earnings, adjusted for purchasing power.

If pay is low, an extra shift means extra income. Sometimes the biggest reason people work longer is simply that they need the money. Then there is informality. The ILO's India Employment Report 2024 found that India's workforce is largely informal, with limited employment security and social protection. For many workers, saying no to an extra shift or a Sunday assignment is not really an option. Then comes workplace culture.

Most Indians have worked in offices where leaving at 5 pm attracts more attention than staying till 11 pm. In many offices, visibility matters more than efficiency. Unfortunately, that has become the ‘Indian’ way of doing work. Then there could be a genuine need because of the global delivery model. If your client is waking up just as you are winding down, someone has to adjust. Time-zone differences mean late-night calls, early-morning meetings and odd working hours.

So, not all long hours are created equal. A business owner working 16 hours to build a company is not the same as an employee staying back. Should we applaud—or start worrying? And there’s a bit of an irony here. Many of the multinational companies Mr Goyal was addressing, especially European ones, have spent years balancing work and personal time. In some companies with large India operations, managers discourage long working hours.

They see them as a sign that something has gone wrong, either with the workflow or the team. So, working on weekends could probably ring wrong bells in them. What India should sell Therefore, the most compelling pitch should be the journey of the Indian worker. It took years for foreign managers to hand over ownership of even simple processes. It took years for foreign companies to trust Indian employees with greater responsibility and recognise their capabilities.

It took years to see Indian-origin executives leading multinational companies. It took years for Indian migrants to build a reputation for being competent, reliable and hardworking. Across companies and sectors, millions of workers acquired skills, took ownership and helped move the industry up the value chain. That is a journey worth celebrating. Sincerity, discipline, initiative and responsiveness are valuable qualities.

But the absence of personal boundaries should not become a national selling point. Disclaimer The views expressed are the author’s own and do not reflect the official policy or position of Financial Express. Swapnil Karkare likes bridging economics and storytelling. A Chartered Accountant and economist by profession — he analyses finance and policy through research, writing, and podcasts.