12-Hour A Day, 6 Days A Week: Russian Billionaire Calls For Longer Work Weeks To Boost Economy

Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska has sparked controversy by suggesting that Russians work 12-hour days, six days a week, to accelerate the country's economic transformation, Business Insider reported. Deripaska said on Monday that this schedule would help Russia adapt to changing global conditions and overcome its current economic challenges.

"This crisis is deeper. It is caused by a difficult transformation: from the global opportunities we once had to regional ones, with all sorts of restrictions," Deripaska, the founder of Rusal, which is a major aluminium producer, wrote in a Telegram post.

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His proposal involves working from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, including Saturdays, to boost productivity and economic growth. He believes Russia's "national characteristic", which is its ability to rally and work harder in difficult times, is key to overcoming current challenges

Russia's economy is facing a slowdown, with growth projected to decline from 4.3% in 2024 to 1% in 2025, despite high energy prices. According to the billionaire, the reason is a "deeper transformation" caused by shifting global opportunities and restrictions.

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"In difficult moments, we know how to pull ourselves together and work more," he wrote. "The sooner we switch to this new schedule - from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., including Saturdays - the faster we will complete this transformation."

He is not the first one to propose working for longer hours. Narayana Murthy, who is the founder of Infosys, has also advocated for 70-hour workweeks.

In 2023, Murthy said, "India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world. Unless we improve our work productivity, unless we reduce corruption in the government at some level, because we have been reading, I don't know the truth of it, unless we reduce the delays in our bureaucracy in taking this decision, we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress."

Such proposals often face criticism. Many experts have also warned that longer work hours could lead to fatigue, decreased productivity, and negative impacts on work-life balance.