Indian-American CEO defends stance on 100-hour work week: ‘Some people want this’ | Trending

The Indian-origin CEO of AI startup Greptile, who copped backlash after revealing that his employees are expected to work more than 14 hours a day, has defended his stance on no work-life balance. Daksh Gupta says there exs a small minority of employees who actually enjoy working overtime, and his interview process is fully transparent to recruit only those employees who don’t have a problem with hard work. Indian-origin CEO cops backlash after asking for 14-hour workdays in ‘high stress’ job(Representational image) The original postOn November 9, Daksh Gupta shared a post on the social media platform X where he said that while interviewing job-seekers, he has begun telling them right off the bat that “Greptile offers no work-life-balance, typical workdays start at 9am and end at 11pm, often later, and we work Saturdays, sometimes also Sundays.” “I emphasise that the environment is high stress, and there is no tolerance for poor work,” he added, referring to his Silicon Valley-based startup. The San Francisco-based CEO of the AI startup explained that full transparency about the work environment avoids unpleasant surprises for employees on the first day. “It felt wrong to do this at first but i’m convinced now that the transparency is good, and I’d much rather people know this from the get go rather than find out on their first day,” Gupta wrote on X. The post naturally drew negative reactions on social media, coming at a time when the debate around toxic work culture is at an all-time high. It also became the target of rac comments as some internet users implied that Gupta’s Indian heritage is the reason behind his stance on no work-life balance. “Offering zero work life balance but being honest about it is not the flex you think it is,” wrote one X user. “Even the worst companies don’t start from 9 and end at 11. 14 hours? Obnoxious attitude of some founders who want their employees to work like ‘founders’ while getting paid like ‘peons,’” another user wrote. Founder’s defenceIn a follow-up post, Daksh Gupta, the co-founder and CEO of Greptile, defended his stance saying that a small minority of employees actually wants to work overtime. Gupta acknowledged that a 100-hour week is not sustainable and said that his organisation, too, would manage expectations as it grows bigger. The CEO of Greptile first apologised to people who were triggered his post, specifically the software engineers who are “overworked and underpaid.” He said that his company is made up of employees who earlier worked 20 hours a week in well-paying jobs, and are free to return to that lifestyle if they so wish. “It might be hard to believe but there ex people that want this, while a minority. The transparency exs to identify them,” he said. Gupta also acknowledged that people with families cannot work 100 hours a week. “This way of working isn’t supposed to be forever because it isn’t sustainable. It’s the first year or two of a startup which is like reaching escape velocity. Like people said in the comments, as we mature we’ll hire older, more experienced people who have families and can’t work 100 hours a week, and naturally we would adapt like any good organization,” he wrote on X. Finally, he addressed the racism, saying his post had received a lot of Indian hate. “I want to clarify that I am like this not because I’m Indian but because I’m San Franciscan,” he said.