Google co-founder Sergey Brin expressed concern about employees working less than the recommended hours or doing the bare minimum.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has advised employees working on the company’s Gemini AI models to adopt a 60-hour workweek and maintain daily office attendance to boost productivity in the race towards artificial general intelligence (AGI), media reports said.
In an internal memo, accessed by The New York Times, Brin recommended that employees be present in the office every weekday, and that “60 hours a week is the sweet spot of productivity.”
However, he also cautioned that working beyond this threshold could lead to burnout.
Brin expressed concern about employees working less than the recommended hours or doing the bare minimum, mentioning that such behaviour is “not only unproductive but can also be highly demoralising to everyone else.”
This push for increased work hours comes amid intensified competition in AI development, particularly following the launch of ChatGPT in 2022. Brin mentioned that “the final race to AGI is afoot” and believes that Google has “all the ingredients to win this race” but needs to “turbocharge” its efforts.
He also highlighted the importance of leveraging Google’s own AI tools to enhance coding efficiency, urging team members to become “the most efficient coders and AI scientists in the world by using our own AI.”
While Brin’s memo does not officially change Google’s existing hybrid work policy, which requires three days of in-person work per week, it reflects a broader trend of companies encouraging more office attendance to boost productivity.
India Inc leaders have also been urging longer working hours.
Work-life balance has been a major topic of discussion in corporate India, especially since industry leaders like Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman S N Subrahmanyan have advocated for longer working hours.
While the debate seemed to favour extended workweeks, Capgemini India’s CEO, Ashwin Yardi, has introduced a different perspective, one that supports a more balanced approach.
Speaking at the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum (NTLF), Yardi said he believes the ideal workweek should be 47.5. This is much lower than the 70-hour and 90-hour weeks suggested by other business leaders in recent months.
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