In an interview with PTI, the billionaire businessman and social entrepreneur said burnout, loneliness after migration to big cities, long commutes and stressful working conditions are throwing people into a similar environment. “a big pressure cooker.”
Vembu also spoke at length about why he believes big tech companies should be regulated and emphasized the importance of “standards” to prevent the creation and emergence of digital monopolies.
An example of this is messaging services that operate in silos, he said, questioning “(when) email is not a monopoly, why should messaging be a monopoly?”
On the issue of stress in the workplace, Vembu said that while he has worked for 27 to 28 years and is eager to work another 28 years if possible, he is certainly not in favor of a reckless pace of work that leads to exhaustion, not even for himself. or its employees.
“I’ve been there for 27 to 28 years and I want to work another 28 years, if possible, but that means I can’t burn out. I don’t want any of our people to burn out,” he added.
His comment assumes significance in the backdrop of the tragic death of a young employee of one of the prominent consulting firms that sparked protests on social media and triggered an intense debate in corporate India over high stress in workplaces. .
That and other incidents in recent weeks have highlighted the issue of workers’ social and mental well-being and the importance of work-life balance.
Vembu stated that depression and burnout are real problems and emphasized the need for “balance.” According to him, any company that demands a lot from its employees cannot maintain its pace in the long term.
“And then there is a second factor. We are bringing young people from various places, from smaller towns, to the big cities. And the first problem is, of course, loneliness. They come to the workforce, alone. And we ourselves see this problem… We have come across this, of course, commuting, and 1-2 hour commutes are increasingly becoming the norm in our cities, Bengaluru being a classic example,” he said.
As loneliness, long commutes and stressful working conditions take their toll, excessive workloads only make matters worse.
“…So there’s already loneliness, long commutes, stressful working conditions…So, you’re throwing people into a very big pressure cooker and, very tragically, some people go broke, some people go broke,” he said, defending the need for business. to diversify and create a presence in smaller towns and cities.
“I think that’s why we have to diversify geographically. Every activity should not be done in one place and we have to think differently about how we build long-term businesses,” said Vembu, known for his enthusiasm for rural India, and whose technology company Zoho works with the philosophy that world-class products can be built anywhere.
Regarding India’s digital public infrastructure or DPI, Vembu called it a “brilliant success story.”
“India has become a very strong player in this area. In fact, we are a world leader in this. I don’t think any other country has so much investment in IPR and so many standards emerging… be it ONDC,” health, and all that, and in this, we are surpassing much of the developed world,” he said.
IPRs are also essential in preventing the formation of monopolies, as they control standards.
“As an example, where there is no standard yet… messaging platforms do not interoperate with others. On the other hand, emails interoperate.
“Technically, it is possible to interoperate, but right now it is under ‘lock and key’ by proprietary players. The government could force this open by mandating it… if you want to operate in India, we want messaging standards. I would recommend it strongly support it, because there is no reason for monopolies in this,” he said.
He further noted that “rules are very important. DPI is playing a vital role. We are very happy to play our part in that.”
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