Companies That Push Workers Too Hard Won’t Sustain Their Pace: Zoho CEO Vembu

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New Delhi: Amid an intense debate in India Inc about high stress at workplaces, Zoho CEO and Co-founder Sridhar Vembu has said companies that push workers "very hard" will not be able to sustain the pace and advocated that a "different" mindset is needed to build long-term and sustainable organisations.

In an interview to PTI, the billionaire businessman and social entrepreneur said burnout, loneliness post-migration to big cities, long-commutes and stressful work conditions are throwing people into "a very big pressure cooker" like environment.

Vembu also spoke at length on why he believes big-tech companies must be regulated, and emphasised the importance of 'standards' in preventing the creation and rise of digital monopolies. A case in point is messaging services which operate in silos, he said and questioned "(when) email is not a monopoly, why should messaging be a monopoly".

On the issue of workplace stress, Vembu said, while he has put in 27-28 years and is raring to work another 28 years if possible, he is certainly not in favour of a reckless pace of work that leads to burnout, either for himself or his employees. "I have been around 27-28 years, and I want to work another 28 years, if possible, but that means I cannot burn myself out. I don't want any of our people to burn themselves out," he added.

His comment assumes significance in the backdrop of the tragic death of a young employee at one of the prominent consultancy firms that led to social media outcry and triggered intense debate in corporate India about high-stress at workplaces. That and other incidents over the last few weeks have brought into the spotlight the issue of the social and mental well-being of workers, and the importance of work-life balance.